The Jacobite faction of the Malankara Church has said it is cutting off all sacramental and spiritual relations with the Orthodox faction in view of the takeover of churches now under its jurisdiction following the Supreme Court verdict of July 3, 2017.
The verdict sought to end all parallel administration in the Malankara Church and hand over control of all parishes in Malankara to the Orthodox group.
Joseph Mar Gregorios, metropolitan trustee of the Jacobite faction, told a press conference here on Thursday that the decision was taken in view of the alleged lack of Christian charity and adherence to the truth of the matter by the rival Orthodox group.
The decision came into effect on Thursday with approval of the Patriarch of the East. About 50 churches where, he claimed, there were only fewer members of the Orthodox faction had been taken over by various district administrations in view of the verdict.
He said the Jacobite faction demanded a judicial inquiry into the way several churches were taken over by the district administrations even as the State-declared COVID-19 protocol was in place. The Mulamthuruthy Marthoman Church was taken over even as the High Court was slated to hear its petition a few hours later.
The administration took over the Pothrikka, Chalissery, Thiruvarpu, and other churches in the midst of the protocol even as the government had sought about two-month time to take over the churches. There was violation of democratic rights and rejection of the truth in these actions by the district administrations.
The press conference was preceded by a four-hour synod of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church at the Puthenkurisu headquarters, about 30 km from Kochi.
Catholicos Baselios Thomas I, head of the Jacobite faction in India, was among those who attended the synod meeting.
Earlier in the day, Father Johns Abraham Konattu, speaking for the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, maintained that his Church, though armed with the Supreme Court verdict, did not want to expel anyone from the parishes and that all sacramental and spiritual needs of the Jacobites would be met by the Orthodox group.
Meanwhile, Yuhannan Ramban, head of the Malankara Action Council for Church Bill Implementation, began an indefinite fast demanding that the State government end takeover of parishes and that the law be implemented to bring accountability to the administration of property owned by the Church.
