KAYAMKULAM:Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted
-Matthew 5:4
Jacobite priest Fr Georgee John finally feels comforted after 11 days of hectic activities to give his grandfather, late Varghese Mathew Pallikalethu alias Mathukutty, the burial he had wished for. He went all the way to the National Human Rights Commission in Delhi on Monday and returned with a favourable order to lead the funeral on Tuesday morning.
“It was the dying wish of my grandfather,” said Fr Georgee who is the son of Mathukutty’s youngest daughter and a priest at Mar Aphrem Jacobite Syrian Church at Parakode. Mathukutty, a farmer, was among the first members to join St Mary’s Church, built on 45 cents of land at KP Road in Kattachira, along with 84 families in 1955.
By 2018, there were still only 132 families in the parish, while the Orthodox churches in Kattanam and Kayamkulam grew to over 1,400 families. Out of the 132, 125 families are Jacobites, said parish trustee of Alex M George. According to him, the families are torn between the ownership of the church between Malankara Orthodox Church and Jacobite Syrian Church. “They are not sure if their families will get the church services they have a right to. A funeral is something no Christian is willing to compromise on,” he said.
The church was closed in September following protests over the implementation of the Supreme Court order awarding ownership to the Orthodox Church. When Saramma Kochukutti, 84, and Thankamma Thomas, 94, two parishioners died in the past two months, their funeral rites were held at the ‘kappela’, in front of the church, before the bodies were buried in the cemetery.No Jacobite priest has been allowed to conduct the ceremonies since the court order, Fr Georgee was the exception. But even he is not sure if he can perform the ritual at the cemetery for the 40th remembrance day.
“Nowadays when a parishioner dies, the SI reaches the home and instructs family members on when and how to perform the funeral. Most officers are quite rude in dealing with a bereaved family,” said Fr Georgee.Fr George Perumpattethu, a Jacobite priest and Mathukutty’s neighbour, said the courts see the cemetery only as a property and overlook the sentiment attached to it by parishioners. “There are a lot of human rights violations happening through such denials,” he said.
Clarification
However, the Malankara Orthodox Church clarified it has supported the rights of parishioners. “We are not against the burial rights of parishioners. We are against Jacobite priests performing funeral rites at the Orthodox church cemetery,” said Fr Johns Abraham Konattu, the PRO of the Malankara Orthodox Church.
According to him, an exception was made in the case of Fr Georgee who was allowed to perform the rites under the leadership of an Orthodox vicar. But it was not acceptable to them as they wanted to set a convention, he said.
The church registered its protest in allowing the funeral under a Jacobite priest on Tuesday. Fr Johns said the church would move legally against the decision of the district administration which should have adhered to the Supreme Court verdict.