Hundreds of Jacobite Church members including many women and children, tried to ‘re-enter’ 52 parishes on Sunday, which were handed over to the Syrian-Orthodox faction in the state based on the ruling given by the Supreme Court order in 2017.
Members of the Jacobite denomination church attempted to enter Marthoman Jacobite Syrian Cathedral Church at Mullanthuruthy and Kayamkulam Kattachira St.Mary’s church, both in Ernakulam district.
However, the police prevented the Jacobites led by Joseph Mar Gregorius who staged a protest in front of the church and offered prayers.
“We have lost 52 churches now and we have over 600 parishes left. It is on us to protect our churches. We will continue to protest against the injustices till a solution is reached. It is with great pain that we have accepted the verdict of the superior courts,” The New Indian Express quoted Metropolitan Joseph Mar Gregorios as saying.
The conflict between the Jacobite and Orthodox groups in Kerala started in 1912 when the Malankara Church was split into the Jacobite and Orthodox groups. However, they reunified in 1959 only to break up again in 1973.
Since then, both the factions have been at each other throat over the control of the churches and properties of the Malankara Church. This dispute over 1,000 churches led to the closing of many churches for years now and some are in dilapidated condition.
In August this year, Pinarayi Vijayan-led CPM government took control of the Mullanthuruthy church, which has been at the centre of a dispute between Jacobite and Orthodox factions of the Malankara Church, a non-Catholic Christian community in Kerala.
However, the hypocrisy of the Left government in Kerala came out in the open when in 2018, the Kerala government followed the instructions of Supreme Court ruling to allow women aged between 10 and 50 years into the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple, despite the law and order situation it had created.