KOTTAYAM: Catholicos Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II, Supreme Head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, has expressed hope that the Supreme Court observations regarding Church feud will help restore peace in the Church. According to him, the court order is the victory of all those who abide by the rule of the nation and wish for peace in the Church.
Observing that the court orders of 1958, 1995 and 2017 is in the same direction, the Catholicos said in a statement here on Tuesday that a path has been opened towards standing by the peace and to become a unified Malankara Church by accepting the court order. “The Supreme Court has once again asserted all the courts and authorities concerned have the Constitutional obligation to implement its orders,” he said.
“The Supreme Court has made strong observations while considering the case related to Kattachira and Varikkoli churches. Though the court order on July 3, 2017, regarding the Kolenchery church dispute, is completely applicable to Kattachira and Varikkoli churches, it has not been implemented so far. Now, the court has categorically said both these churches must be ruled as per the 1934 constitution of the Church,” he said.
The Catholicos also expressed hope that the state government and authorities concerned will take steps to implement the order, instead of washing off their hands stating they were not parties in the case. He also called upon the Patriarch faction to arrange the administration of the Church as per the 1934 constitution to restore peace in the Church realising the essence of the court order.
Fight between Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and Jacobite
Syrian Christian Church
1912 : Orthodox Malankara Christians splits on the question of supreme head. One group, Jacobite Syrian Church, supports the Patriarch of Antioch
The second faction, Kerala Malankara Orthodox Church, comes under Kottayam-based bishop
1934: Both the factions come together to elect a bishop, Baselious Geevarghese Catholica, in Kottayam
1970: The merged factions elect a Bishop together, but Patriarch of Antioch gets involved in daily affairs of the Church in Kerala, creating uneasiness among the factions
1974: Patriarch anoints three bishops in Kerala, setting off another round of rift. Over the next several years, the two factions fight with each other on the streets, capturing churches
1995: Case reaches the Supreme Court. The apex court observes that the 1934 constitution of the Malankara Church was appropriate for the management of the church parishes. The constitution states Malankara metropolitan is the head of the Church and the Patriarch of Antioch has no claim on its temporal assets
2017: In November 2017, Supreme Court intervenes for the fourth time in a century-old dispute, dismisses petitions filed by the Jacobites seeking a review of the court’s July 3, 2017 verdict. The verdict gave the Orthodox group control over more than 1,100 parishes and their churches