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Referendum proposed to settle Indian church dispute

Jacobite and Orthodox factions of the Malankara Church have been at loggerheads over sharing church properties since 1911
Referendum proposed to settle Indian church dispute

The supreme head of the Syrian Orthodox Church, Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II based in Antioch, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Feb. 17, 2015, when the church leader visited India. (Photo: narendramodi.in)

Published: November 05, 2021 05:45 AM GMT
Updated: November 05, 2021 05:52 AM GMT

The Kerala Law Reforms Commission has recommended a referendum to determine the ownership of churches and their properties in the southern Indian state with a sizable Christian population.

“A referendum is the only solution to avoid violence and even bloodshed while taking over churches,” former Supreme Court judge Justice K.T. Thomas, who chaired the commission, told the media on Oct. 3

The commission, whose job is to suggest reforms in law and its implementation, had earlier suggested a referendum as the only solution to the dispute in a draft bill released in February.

The dispute between the Jacobite and Orthodox factions of the Malankara Church on sharing churches and other assets has been raging since a split in 1911 in this indigenous branch of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch.

The Orthodox faction now has its supreme head based in Kerala, while the Jacobites owe allegiance to the patriarch in Antioch.

In 1934, they came together, agreed on a constitution and elected a Catholicos of the East as the common head. However, in 1973 they split again, each faction taking over properties in areas where they were numerically stronger.

The Jacobites, who claim the support of most parishioners, welcomed the referendum as the right step to find an amicable and lasting solution

The vast landed properties and churches still continue to be a bone of contention between the factions, especially after a 2017 order from the Supreme Court of India directing the Jacobites to hand over more than 1,100 churches in their possession to the Orthodox faction.

The Jacobites refused to comply, pleading that they were in a majority and hence the churches and other properties belonged to them. This led to massive street protests and further litigation by the Orthodox faction seeking intervention by the state government to implement the top court order.

So far some 55 churches have been handed over to the Orthodox faction under police protection, but the fight over many other important properties is still on in the state.

Past efforts to settle the dispute by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, besides Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Catholic Church leaders, have proved unsuccessful.

The Jacobites, who claim the support of most parishioners, welcomed the referendum as the right step to find an amicable and lasting solution. The Orthodox faction, however, disapproved of it and insisted on implementing the 2017 Supreme Court order.

It was being alleged that the commission’s recommendation was an attempt to sabotage the 2017 top court order, but Justice Thomas denied the charge.

Courts generally take a decision on the basis of existing laws. This, however, does not stop parliament and state legislatures from formulating new laws to supersede the court order, he said.

Father Johns Abraham Konattu, public relations officer of the Malankara Orthodox Church, in a statement on Nov. 3 said they were ready to hold elections but insisted that priests appointed under the provisions of the 1934 constitution be permitted to lead worship in churches.

Advocate Biju Oommen, secretary of the Malankara Orthodox Church Association, condemned the recommendation to hold a referendum as it was “beyond the purview of the panel.”

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