The Jacobite faction of Kerala’s Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in order to resolve the property dispute with the Orthodox faction has called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help settle the dispute.

The Jacobite faction has said that it will support the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) if it resolves the long-standing feud in the church, reports Swarajya.

Thomas Alexandrios Metropolitan, the Jacobite faction protest committee convenor has invited Modi to find a solution to the dispute and also termed the Centre’s efforts to hold peace talks “a blessing”.

 “So far, the Prime Minister has not informed us his response after holding talks,” Metropolitan said.

Metropolitan also made a categorical statement when he said, “Those who help the Jacobite church will get our support. We have proved our strength in the local bodies polls,” he said when he was questioned about BJP’s motive in trying to settle the dispute.

Metropolitan, however, was balanced and said that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) had helped the Jacobites by promulgating an ordinance on burial at Christian cemeteries and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan government had assured to settle the issue “with conciliation”.

“However, if the Centre takes initiative to settle the dispute, we will support them irrespective of the politics”, the leader of the Jacobite said.

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.

The statement comes on the heels of Prime Minister Modi who held talks with both factions last week to settle the dispute which in reality is all about the control of about 1,000 churches and properties between them.

The Prime Minister on his part has assured to study the situation and revert to find a cordial solution.

For the Kerala LDF government, this issue has become crown of thorns after the Supreme Court order in 2017 order asked the Kerala government to take over the Jacobite churches and hand them over to the Orthodox faction.

However, Kerala CM had welcomed the PM’s mediation efforts and ruled out any politics being involved in Modi’s role.

But the problem is that the Orthodox faction of the Malankara Church has objected to the Jacobites effort for an out-of-the-court solution despite the Supreme Court ruling. The Supreme Court can never be seen as a third party but Modi is been seen as an outsider by the Orthodox and they have a reservation that the mediation could turn into an arbitration. 

For a long time the Jacobites have raised the complaint that they are being alienated from their own churches but the Orthodox faction wants the dispute to be settled within the framework of the apex court order, which the Jacobites point that many issues will arise out of the ruling which also need to be addressed. One particular point is the inability to bury the bodies of their family members in cemeteries of the churches their forefathers had built, after the Supreme Court ruling.

The Jacobite faction, in particular, is seeking the Prime Minister’s intervention to give them “religious freedom, freedom of worship and justice to the problems the Jacobite Syrian Church is undergoing”.

The Kerala government has been in talks with both the factions since September, but the effort has been in vain as it does not want to lose the support from both groups, hence it has failed to reach an equitable solution.  

For years, due to the dispute between the Jacobites and the Orthodox church has led to many churches closed for years. Some of them are in dilapidated condition.

The Orthodox Church wants the validity of the 1934 Constitution of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church to be upheld that will allow it to govern the parishes under the church which has already been upheld by the Supreme Court but the Jacobites are not in agreement.

In Kerala, the years of the dispute has now become a serious law and order problem as supporters of both factions have come to blows.

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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.

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