High Court directs district authorities to take control of 6 churches in Kerala

High Court of Kerala (Credits : OpIndia)

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala – Kerala High Court has directed the district authorities of Ernakulam and Palakkad to take-over 6 churches owned by Malankara Christians. Two groups of Malankara Christians, Jacobite and Orthodox, had a long-standing dispute between them over these churches. The High Court orders came in the wake of defamation case filed by 2 priests of the Orthodox group of the church.

Justice V G Arun, Kerala High Court criticised the church for not complying with Court’s directive in 2022. The directive allowed the members of the Malankara Orthodox church to enter this church and offer worship peacefully. Jacobite Christians were not allowing Orthodox Christians to enter the church. This leaves no choice to the district authorities but to take the churches under their control. The Justice said.

Orthodox-Jacobite dispute: Kerala High Court takes a strong stance!

• Orders District Collectors to take possession of 6 churches

• Directs police protection for Orthodox faction to enter churches

• Slams government and Jacobite faction for contempt of court

The court’s… pic.twitter.com/payJhlaX4u

— Sanatan Prabhat (@SanatanPrabhat) September 5, 2024

The State government said that they had made sincere efforts to follow the directive, but the Jacobite group’s activities compelled the government to withdraw. The government’s intervention could have caused loss of lives and wealth.

Jacobite group told the court that the churches could not be handed over to Orthodox group

The High Court rejected the objection by Jacobite group and ordered the district authorities of Ernakulam to take over the control of 3 churches, St. Mary’s, Odakkali Orthodox church, St’ John Basafez Orthodox Syrian church and St’ Thomas Orthodox church Mazuvannur

The high Court also directed the Palakkad District Authorities to take charge of St’ Mary Orthodox Church of Mangalam dam, St. Mary orthodox Syrian Church at Ericin Chira and St’ Thomas Orthodox Syrian Church at Cherukunam.

Dispute between the two groups

Orthodox and Jacobite were initially the part of the same church. Disagreements arose over the loyalty of the church, and they split. The Orthodox group is loyal to bishop of Kerala (Malankara Metropolitan), while the Jacobite group considers the Patriarch of Antioch- the Head of Syrian Orthodox Church, as their religious head. The dispute began with the problem of which church should oversee various churches in Kerala. (The secularists who condemn Hinduism over caste system, do not utter a single word about this kind of groupism in Christianity. – Editor)