Jesus! BPO has even come to church

‘‘Most of these requests are made from the US and European countries. These Mass intentions are usually routed through dioceses and handed over to relatively less busy parishes,’’ says Jose Porunnedam, Chancellor of Syro-Malabar Church.

‘‘Pilgrim centres also direct Mass intentions to the diocese. We also get Mass intentions made at pilgrim centres as far as Lourdes in France and Santiago De Compestele in Spain,’’ says Father Dr Philip Nelpuraparambil, Director of Ecumenism and Dialogue at Archdiocese of Changanassery.

The Mass, now known as Dollar Mass, also brings financial benefits. This is how it works: While fees for a Holy Mass intention made in Germany is 50 euro (Rs 2,850), it is just Rs 50 in Thrissur diocese. The rate also spirals for the time-consuming Mass like Gregorian Mass which takes up to 30 days to complete.

As there is no official channel to route the Mass intentions, many intentions are won by the dioceses through personal relations of the priests concerned. The priests who have friends abroad or studied abroad often get more requests.

It is another way for the western churches to help poor Indian cousins. ‘‘Mostly these intentions are given out for meeting expenses of parishes with membership of fewer than 250 families and less sources of income. The money is also used for paying remuneration for the priests,’’ says Fr Paul Alappatt, Chancellor of Thrissur Archdiocese, which gets an average of 50 Mass intentions from abroad every month.