KOTTAYAM: Indicating there is no respite for the feud between the Orthodox and Jacobite factions, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) has come out against the demand of the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church (MJSOC) to conduct a referendum among the church members regarding the ownership of churches.
According to Fr Johns Abraham Konatt, official spokesperson and PRO of the Orthodox Church, the demand raised by the Patriarchal faction was unfortunate. “The Supreme Court has already ordered churches or institutions cannot be partitioned or acquired on the basis of a majority. It is difficult to understand why those people file more and more cases, while wishing to settle the case on the basis of a referendum,” Konatt said.He also questioned the intention of the Jacobite faction’s move to file new cases by raising a range of issues, which were settled by the Supreme Court in 1958, 1995 and 2017.
“Those who refuse to accept the court orders are now filing cases to trigger disputes. The Supreme Court has approved the 1934 Constitution in its entirety. There is no merit in questioning the legality of the Constitution again and again. The Supreme Court had found 1,064 churches should be administered as per the Constitution of the Orthodox Church. It is improper the Jacobite faction is raising a claim on some of the churches,” Konatt said.
According to him, the Orthodox Church wishes permanent peace and unity among the Churches on the basis of the court orders.