Bengaluru: The Vatican’s Congregation for Evangelization of People has directed Bengaluru Archdiocese to encourage Mass and services in Kannada and introduce it wherever it doesn’t exist. “The principal language of the Archdiocese is Kannada, as stated in the Pastoral Handbook of the Archdiocese (2009)”, the recent directive issued by Vatican states, thus ending a 40-year old dispute.

In Karnataka, a considerable section of the catholic community constitutes Tamil speakers. However, differences have cropped up over the choice of language – Kannada or Tamil – especially during festive masses.

On April 22, the Archbishop of Bengaluru communicated the Vatican’s 10 directives to all parishes. The directive states that while scheduling Mass, Kannada Mass should be given prime time.

Besides, the Vatican also said that considering the cosmopolitan nature of the city and English being a universal language, it should be used for liturgy in all parishes, especially in the city and semi-urban parishes.

In reply, Bernard Moras, Archbishop of Bengaluru diocese said that churches will continue to have multilingual services. “Based on the commission of three Bishops formed to study the case, each parish will make a profile of its community. After the study, the schedule of the Mass and language to be used will be fixed, making unique schedules for each parish based on their linguistic composition”, he clarified.

The proposal from the church should specify the preferred language for the First Holy Communion, first Friday, confirmation and parish feast Mass among other things. However, marriages and funerals should be in the language of choice of the parties concerned. The Vatican has underlined that “all issues should be solved in a cordial atmosphere with mutual respect, openness, dialogue and in consultation”, he further stated.