The dispute is the sharpest internal conflict in any Eastern Catholic church in recent memory. In August 2021 the synod mandated a uniform mode of celebration — priest facing the people for the liturgy of the word, facing the altar for the eucharistic prayer — and thirty-four of thirty-five eparchies complied. Ernakulam-Angamaly, the archdiocese of the major archbishop himself, did not: priests and laity had celebrated facing the congregation throughout since the 1970s and regarded the order as a reversal imposed from outside. There were court cases, the closure of St Mary's Basilica, physical clashes inside the basilica at Christmas 2023, burned circulars and threats of excommunication. Cardinal George Alencherry resigned in December 2023 and Raphael Thattil was elected major archbishop in January 2024. A compromise announced in June 2025 required one Mass in the uniform mode on Sundays and holy days and permitted the rest facing the people; it took effect on 3 July 2025, the feast of Saint Thomas.