KOCHI: Patriarch of Syrian Orthodox Church Ignatius Mar Aprem II scheduled to arrive in Kerala on Tuesday is unlikely to meet the Orthodox Catholicos Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II. The Patriarch, visiting the country on the invitation of the church synod, was expected to meet the Catholicos to sort out the long-standing issues between the two factions of the Syrian Orthodox church in Kerala. Father Varghese Kallapara, convenor, Quest For Peace Secular International Samithy, said it is unfortunate the Orthodox faction is not ready to meet the Patriarch.
P C Alias, spokesperson of the Malankara Orthodox church, said there was no indication of a meeting with the Patriarch and they do not expect any results to come out of a possible meeting between the factions. He added the resolution in the matter of ownership of churches lies with the Supreme Court verdict which was in favour of the Orthodox faction.
A review filed by the Jacobite faction on Supreme Court’s July 3, 2017, verdict giving the Orthodox group control over more than 1,100 parishes and their churches were turned down in November last year. The Jacobites claim the apex court’s verdict deprives 1.2 million devotees of a place of worship.
The court’s earlier verdicts, in 1958 and 1995, had also gone in favour of the Orthodox faction. The Patriarch will meet Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Church Episcopal Synod before departing to Delhi on May 23.
Quest for Peace, in a memorandum, has requested the Patriarch to have a roundtable with Orthodox Catholicos to amicably settle the dispute. They have also requested him to remove the Jacobite church trustee Thampu George and direct the local synod to take over the church administrative duties till new church committees are elected.