By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : The Syrian Orthodox Church Sunday condemned the communist-led government in Kerala for “supporting” its rival Jacobite group in the long standing feud between the two factions.
The latest salvo comes after the Jacobite faction Saturday entered the Trikkunath Seminary controlled by the Syrian Orthodox Church and offered prayers.
In a resolution read out at the Sunday mass across the state, the Syrian Orthodox Church said: “The attitude of the (V.S.) Achuthanandan government, which flouted law of the land, is highly improper.”
“The government and the police gave full support to the Jacobite faction flouting the orders of the court and allowed it to enter the disputed Trikkunath Seminary in Aluva (around 230 km from state capital Thiruvananthapuram) and offer prayers Saturday.”
The feud between the Orthodox faction and the Jacobites (also known as the Patriarch faction) is more than a century old. The bitter dispute has led to the closure of many churches and even physical confrontation between members of the two factions.
In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Syrian Orthodox Church, naming it as having the sole right of ownership to all churches in the state.
“The Ernakulam collector had clamped ban orders under section 144 of the CrPC (criminal procedure code) in the vicinity of the Trikkunath Seminary. But the police allowed the Jacobite faction to enter the premises. We will have no more conciliatory talks with the government and instead will seek redress from the court. We have also decided to boycott the entire Achuthanandan cabinet,” said George Joseph, an official of the Orthodox Church.
The Syrian Orthodox Church is the bigger of the two factions with close to two million followers.
Successive governments in Kerala have tried, and failed, to resolve the feud.