Kochi: Jacobites to fight it out

Kochi: The Jacobite faction of Malankara Church has decided to resist the attempts by the Orthodox faction to appropriate the churches under its possession. This was made clear by Catholicos Baselios Thomas-I at a 12-hour fast conducted by senior priests and leaders of the Jacobite faction at Marine Drive here on Tuesday. He said no church under the control of Jacobites will be handed over to the Orthodox faction.

He vowed to be in the forefront to prevent the Orthodox members from entering any of the Jacobite churches and said the Orthodox faction was following a policy of confrontation. It had rejected the government invitation to attend the discussions to solve the dispute. The Catholicos lamented that he may be the only head of a church in the world to be accused in 609 cases. "Only the Jacobite Church has such a misfortune," he added.

The fast was undertaken in the background of the Orthodox faction entering the Kandanad St. Mary's Church and the move to enter the Piravom St. Mary's Church on Wednesday using the Supreme Court verdict as a cover.  The Jacobite members are not allowed to even bury the dead in these churches.

A cross section of people, including political leaders like UDF convener Benny Behenan, Kerala Congress (Jacob) leader Anup Jacob and others visited the venue of the protest which was held from 8.30 in the morning till 8.30 at night. The Supreme Court had earlier passed a verdict favouring the Orthodox faction in the long-standing dispute.