KOCHI: Hoping to find a peaceful resolution to the decades-long Malankara Church dispute, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has convened separate conciliatory meetings with the Jacobite and Orthodox factions in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.
The meetings gain urgency in the light of Friday’s verdict of the Kottayam sub-court ordering the handover of St Mary’s Jacobite Syrian Church at Manarcad, which is a major pilgrimage centre, to the Orthodox faction.
While the chief minister will hold talks with representatives of the Jacobite faction at 10.30am, the meeting with the Orthodox faction representatives has been fixed at 3pm.
Both factions have agreed to attend the talks. From the Orthodox side, Gabriel Mar Gregorios, Metropolitan of Thiruvanathapuram diocese, Thomas Mar Athanasius, Metropolitan of Kandanad East diocese, and Synod secretary Yuhanon Mar Diascoros will take part in the talks.
The representatives of the Jacobite Church will be Synod secretary Thomas Mar Timotheos, Kuriakose Mar Theophilos, media cell chairman, and Geevarghese Mar Coorilos, Metropolitan of Niranam diocese. “We have cooperated with the government sub-committee, formed for peace talks between the churches, from the beginning. It is the rival faction that has been avoiding the meetings. They continue to snatch away our churches in these Covid times too. Now, they are aiming for the Manarcad church. We will raise our concerns with the government,” said Kuriakose Mar Theophilos.
However, the Orthodox Church sticks to its stand of executing the Supreme Court verdict of handing over the churches. “We promise that no faithful will be driven out of their church,” said Johns Abraham Konat, spokesperson of the Orthodox Church.