Can the Christian Church in Kerala be asked to give up the practice of using wine for Holy Mass in order to respect the Government decision to implement total alcohol ban, something which the Church has been vehemently demanding for the past several yearsIJ

“No” is the Church’s big answer, and heads of almost all Christian denominations in Kerala are united in this, because the Holy Mass will be incomplete without it as it is the symbol of Jesus’ blood and it is part of a very important religious custom. But not all Keralites are satisfied with this rejection.

One among those who are unhappy with the Church's explanation is Vellappally Natesan, general secretary of SNDP, the powerful outfit of Hindu lower caste Ezhavas of Kerala, who with his close relationship with the alcohol business is informed enough to accuse the Church of possessing 23 Abkari licences issued by the Kerala Government for wine brewing.

“Can they clergy keep their hands to their chests and tell me that they are using wine only for Holy Mass, that they are not using it in the parties they host and that they are not selling it in church premises on special occasionsIJ Wine is categorised as liquor in Kerala and its alcohol content is 16 per cent. So it there is liquor ban, wine should be banned also,” says Vellappally.

“I am not asking the Church to give up its customs. But customs keep changing according to changing times. Cocks used to be sacrificed at Hindu temples once but that has changed and they began using ash cucumber for sacrifice. Similarly, why can’t the Christian Church begin using something symbolic instead of using wine in the context of liquor banIJ” he asks.

The high priests of almost all the leading Christian denominations — latin Catholics, Roman Catholics, Syrian Orthodox Church, Syrian Jacobite Church, etc — have rejected Vellappally’s questions as ‘immature’ and some even went to the extent of calling them nonsensical and a product of ignorance about the Church’s customs and rituals.

Even State Congress president VM Sudheeran, who had led an agitation in his party for some action for the eradication of the menace of alcohol from Kerala society and who belongs to Vellappally’s caste, pooh-poohed his questions. “It is not for the outsiders to make suggestions. It is up to the Church itself to think of any change if they feel so,” he says.

Change is exactly what Philipose Mar Chrysostom, Senior Metropolitan of Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar is proposing: “It is not necessary that wine should be used for Holy Mass.” He says that grape-in-water had once been used for Holy Mass and this can be considered. But Father Paul Thelekkat, spokesman of the powerful Syro-Malabar Church, rejected the proposal outright.

Sunny Thomas, a member of the Pentecost Church, disputed the clergy’s ‘love for sacramental wine’. Sunny says, “There are many Christian denominations which do not use alcohol-rich wine for Mass. Grape can be used for Mass in many other forms. But I think the priests of these churches could be thinking: Wine without alcohol is not wine but it is mere grape juice!”

Sunny also questions the leading Churches’ refusal to reform the custom of using wine for Mass. “God had told the first man: Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return. If that is so, how could the Syro-Malabar Church decide last week to permit cremation instead of burial which most other churches even refuse to considerIJ It means they accept the need to reform,” he says.

According to Vellappally, 55 per cent of the bars in Kerala are owned by the Hindus and 45 per cent belong to the Christians. The Church had demanded permanent closure of the 418 bars closed on April 1 for lack of facilities and most of them belonged to Hindus. However, they did not ask for the closure of the remaining 312 bars, most of which belonged to Christians, he complains.

“Now the priests are advising the Government not to close down those 312 bars, of which majority are owned by Christians, without serving notice on the pretext that the bar-owners may argue in the court that they have been denied natural justice,” Vellappally says, adding, “The intentions are clear.”