Syro-Malabar church sticks to roots for Maundy Thursday, women not included in washing of the feet ceremony

KOCHI: Sticking to its Eastern tradition, the Syro-Malabar Church, the second largest congregation of the Catholics, has decided not to include women in the washing of the feet ceremony performed on Holy Thursday, that is observed before Easter Sunday. 

Syro-Malabar Church head Mar George Cardinal Alencherry, in a circular, has made it clear that it was under the theological perspective of the Eastern tradition that the Church will wash only the feet of men in the Maundy Thursday ceremony.

In January 2016, Pope Francis had issued a decree revising the rules for the washing of the feet, a ritual that is usually only performed on 12 men or boys. The revised rules allow churches to include women and young girls. Going by the revised rules, feet of women were washed at many Latin parishes last year.

However, the Syro-Malabar Church, with 45-50 lakh faithfuls around the world and large numbers in Kerala, did not wash women’s feet last year, citing that the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, the Vatican body that oversees Eastern Catholic churches clarified that the Pope’s approval was for changes only in the Roman Missal, therefore applicable only to the Latin Church.

The Synod of Bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church has also decided that the church will follow liturgical tradition and wash the feet of 12 men or boys. 

Washing of the feet during Maundy Thursday recalls the New Testament account of Jesus washing the feet of the 12 Apostles during the Last Supper.