KOTTAYAM: After a brief hiatus, the disputes between Jacobite and Orthodox factions in the Malankara church resurfaced with the state government’s decision to send official representatives to Lebanon for the installation of Joseph Mor Gregorios, Malankara Metropolitan of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, as Catholicos.
Addressing mediapersons at the Orthodox Church headquarters at Devalokam in Kottayam on Thursday, functionaries of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) expressed their strong protest against the state government for supporting the installation ceremony.
According to them, the alleged alternative installation ceremony in Lebanon would disrupt peace within the Malankara Church. The Orthodox faction also pointed to a Supreme Court ruling that upheld the 1934 Constitution of the Malankara Church and explicitly rejected any attempt to create a parallel management system under the pretext of the spiritual supremacy of the Patriarch.
“Seven people, including the Law Minister, are travelling abroad at government expense to endorse this parallel administration. This is nothing short of an affront to democratic values. Those who came to power by swearing allegiance to the Constitution are now disregarding the law of the land. It is deeply concerning that the state’s law minister himself is complicit in this violation,” said Yuhanon Mar Dioscoros Metropolitan, head of the MOSC media wing.
Condemning the move as an act of political appeasement, the Church also reminded the political leaders that Kerala is made up of 13 districts beyond Ernakulam.
The Orthodox Church also questioned the stance of the Opposition, asking why representatives were being sent abroad at the government’s expense to participate in a ‘private event’.
“The opposition in Kerala consistently criticises the state government for its wasteful spending. If so, what is the Opposition’s stand on sending representatives abroad at government’s expense to participate in an illegal event by taking money from the public treasury? Is it not over the heads of ASHA workers, who are protesting under the scorching sun, that these representatives including UDF members are flying out to a private event? The Church wants to know whether the Opposition also supports the use of people’s tax money for this purpose,” they said.
Reaffirming its political neutrality, the Orthodox Church also reminded the LDF government that its stance should not be mistaken for weakness.