New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 3
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the members of the Jacobite church to hand over the administration of three churches each in Ernakulam and Palakkad districts in Kerala to the Orthodox Church.
The apex court also directed the Orthodox faction to ensure that the common amenities in these churches, such as burial grounds, schools, hospitals etc. can be enjoyed by the Jacobite faction in conformity with the 1934 Constitution.
It posted these matters for further consideration on December 17.
Before directing the Jacobite Church to hand over the six churches, the Court pointed out that they were in contempt for "willfully disobeying" the judgments regarding the entrustment of churches to the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church as per the 1934 Constitution.
It also pointed out that if the Jacobite Church fails to comply with the court's directions, it will result in the initiation of contempt proceedings.
A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan passed the order on a batch of Special Leave Petitions filed by the officials of the Kerala Government, Kerala Police and also certain members of the Jacobite Church against the directions passed by the Kerala High Court on October 17 to the District Collectors of Palakkad and Ernakulam to take possession of six churches under the control of the Jacobite faction.
A non-Catholic Christian community in Kerala, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church has two factions — the majority Orthodox, who have their headquarters in Kottayam, and the Jacobites, who consider the Patriarch of Antioch in Beirut as their supreme leader.
The community first split into Orthodox and Jacobite in 1912, but following a Supreme Court ruling, it came together in Kottayam for a brief period between 1958 and 1970.
Since 1970, they have been at war over control of churches.
After decades of trial, the apex court gave its final verdict in 2017.
Consequently, the Orthodox faction has been taking control over churches now run by the Jacobite faction.
While the Orthodox faction has already taken over a few churches on directions from the High Court after the police were given specific instructions, in some churches, the Jacobite faction has been unrelenting.
In terms of numbers, the Orthodox Church is a much bigger entity than the Jacobite Church.