To explain why it had backed out of the consensus meeting
Two days after turning down a call from the State government to work out a consensus with the Jacobite faction, a delegation representing the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church has now decided to apprise the State government of the reasons why it had backed out of the discussion.
As part of this, a delegation representing the Orthodox faction will soon meet Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan, who heads the Cabinet subcommittee on church dispute, and hand him over a note explaining the situation. “The note will state how our attendance in the meeting by the State government will amount to violation of the Supreme Court order, which stipulates settlement of the dispute only on the basis of its earlier order July 3, 2017,” said Father Johns Abraham Konat, official spokesperson of the church.
Accusing the Jacobite faction of attempting to reopen the case in the guise of a consensus meeting, he said the government’s move would only help delaying the implementation of the apex court order.
“The issue has been discussed threadbare for several decades without any use and there is no point in taking it up for discussion once again. If the Jacobite faction does not agree to the court’s intervention in matters relating to faith and spirituality, how are they going to settle for a compromise to be suggested by a handful of Ministers,” Fr. Konat said.
Meanwhile, the church here on Thursday termed unfortunate the stance adopted by George Kurien, vice chairman, National Commission for Minorities, on the Malankara Church dispute. In a statement, church association secretary Biju Oommen accused the Jacobite faction of fabricating a controversy over burial of the dead in Orthodox churches.
This was in response to a statement attributed to Mr. Kurien in which he had warned of stern action against the alleged attempts to block the burial of a Jacobite member at the cemetery of the Kadeesha Orthodox Church in Kayamkulam.