KOCHI: In a bid to save their churches, over 20 lakh members of the Jacobite Church will submit a mega-petition signed by all of them to the President, Prime Minister and others.“The petition will be signed by the laity of all the churches belonging to the Jacobite faction,” said Kuriakose Theophilose metropolitan, media chairman, Jacobite Syrian Church.
The signature drive began on Sunday and continue till September 23. Besides President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the petition will be submitted to Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala.“We are fighting for our beliefs and freedom to worship as per our tradition,” said Kuriakose.C K Korah, a parishioner of a Jacobite Church, said they wanted to bury their dearly departed with peace and in accordance with the rituals of the church.
“We want our churches to be ours. We are not planning to cede them to anyone else. How is that possible? We don’t have even a single person from the Orthodox faction in our church,” Korah said.“All the Orthodox faction wants is our property and for that, it has even amended conditions mentioned in the 1934 constitution,” he said. The decision to launch the signature drive was taken by the church working committee at a meeting at Puthencruz here.