‘Open all disputed churches’

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Catholicos Baselios Thomas I of the Jacobite Church on Thursday urged the government to open all disputed churches for prayers to both factions, pending court verdicts.

Addressing a press conference after the Jacobite Syrian Christian Association meeting at Patriarch Centre, Puthencruz, the Catholicos said that he would go to disputed churches that remained locked if the government did not open them for prayers.

Mar Baselios Thomas I also asked the rival Orthodox faction to come forward to settle the disputes through mediation.

He asked the government to withdraw ‘the false cases’ slapped against the faithful including women and children.

The Catholicos said that the church was in the process of starting a medical college at Chelatt, near Kothamangalam, as part of its social mission. It would construct a house in each parish every year for a poor family and also launch projects for solid waste management.

As part of raising the representation of women in church administration, steps would be taken to bring them to the managing committee. For the first time, around 30 women attended the association meeting on Thursday.

The meet, attended by nearly 4,000 representatives from parishes, meanwhile, reelected Mar Baselios Thomas I as metropolitan trustee of the church for another five years.

His name was read out by Episcopal Synod secretary Mar Joseph Gregorios. Poovanthara Mathai Corepiscopa was declared elected as priest trustee.

Sitting Sabha secretary Thampu George Thukalan and Almaya trustee George Mathew Thekkethalakal, who completed two terms, swapped positions.

Sitting priest trustee Kurian Kaniamparambil Corepiscopa, who turned 100, was elevated as Arch Corepiscopa with decorative icons.

No fair polls in church: Almaya Forum

There were no free and fair polls at the Jacobite Syrian Christian Association on Thursday, said Akhila Malankara Almaya Forum, accusing the church hierarchy of making a mockery of its constitution.

“The Catholicos made Sabha secretary the new Almaya trustee and vice versa as per plans.

Both had completed two terms and were not eligible to continue in the same posts as per the constitution,” forum president Manoj Kokkattu and other leaders said, adding that the forum would move the court to get the polls declared null and void.

“There was no presentation of accounts at the meeting and we are forced to believe that the church hierarchy chose to continue with the same set of office-bearers to hide irregularities in the accounts,” they said.

The forum said the church leadership was confined to a few families and this was undemocratic. There was no representation for women in any of the church bodies.

The forum also called for a fair investigation into the murder of Malankara Varghese.