KOTTAYAM: A day after the LDF state committee cleared the decks for the enactment of a new legislation to end the feud in the Malankara Church, the Orthodox Syrian Church has come down heavily against the decision.
The Orthodox Church convened an emergency meeting of its synod and working committee at the Catholicate Palace, in Devalokam, on Friday and decided to tighten its stand against the state government’s proposal, which it said bypasses the Supreme Court verdict.
The church will observe Sunday as a day of protest in all its parishes after mass. The clergy will organise a ‘prayer meeting’ in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, besides diocese-level protests.
Addressing mediapersons at the church headquarters, the leadership said a move to overturn the Supreme Court verdict is unbecoming for a democratic government. “The move to enact legislation by bypassing the Supreme Court order is highly condemnable and objectionable.
This is a challenge to the judiciary. The government can’t take steps overturning the order of the court, putting an end to the decades-long litigation. We believe that the government will not take steps to confront the legal system,” said Biju Oommen, secretary, Malankara Orthodox Church Association.
He expressed the hope the Left front and the government would withdraw the move.