KOTTAYAM: Even as the Jacobite faction has intensified its protest against the takeover of churches as part of the implementation of a High Court order to this effect, the rival Orthodox faction has come out with a clarification that the faithful were not being expelled from the churches.
“The Jacobite leadership’s statement that the faithful should at least be permitted to enter their church is pointless, given the fact that the Orthodox Church has not expelled anyone,” Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church Episcopal Synod Secretary Yuhanon Mar Diascoros Metropolitan said in a statement here on Saturday.
In fact, the records testify that the vicars at the Thiruvarppu Marthasmooni Church were appointed by Paret Mathews Mar Ivanios, then Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church’s Kottayam diocese, after the reunion of Churches in 1958, he said.
“It appears that the other faction has been making attempts to capture the sympathy of society, after its efforts to sabotage the judicial system backfired. The allegations raised by the faction with regard to the Thiruvarppu Church are baseless and a challenge to the rule of law. All the churches of Malankara Christians have been built with the help of donations made by church members. Therefore, subject to the legal system and court decisions, the people of the parish have all rights to participate in worship, not only in the Thiruvarppu Church, but any church under the Malankara Church,” he said.
In addition, Mar Diascoros said the administration of the parish will be conducted by the vicars appointed by the Malankara Orthodox Church, in accordance with the 1934 Constitution.
“To bring lasting peace in the Malankara Church, the faithful should continue to remain in the parishes, understanding the truth and adhering to the established system of governance, including the Supreme Court judgment,” he said.