Jacobite church welcomes law-making

KOCHI: The Jacobite Syrian church working committee meeting welcomed the LDF government's decision to frame a law to resolve the centuries-old Jacobite-Orthodox church dispute.

It was a democratic decision that the LDF recommended making the law. The law will help resolve disputes in churches permanently and allow believers to perform worship and rituals. The seizure of Jacobite shrines and denial of last rites to the dead, which was done by misapplying the 2017 Supreme Court verdict, will end with the implementation of the law.

In the Supreme Court judgment, it has been said that the government can solve the problem by making laws. In disputed churches, administration, worship, and rituals should be conducted according to the decision of the majority of parishioners. In the referendum conducted by the government, 12 lakh followers and civic leaders were in favor of the law-making. The House gratefully recalls the initiative of Justice KT Thomas who recommended the proposed Bill. The metropolitan trustee Joseph Gregorios Metropolitan said that it is hoped that the six years of law and order problems, persecution of faith, seizure of churches, and violence will end with this.

Orthodox Church in protest

The Orthodox Church is to observe a day of protest tomorrow in all churches against the move to make laws in the church dispute after prayer mass. Metropolitans and priests will conduct a 'prayer yajna' in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. The office-bearers said in a press conference that protest programs will be organized under the leadership of all Bhadrasanas. The move to overturn the Supreme Court verdict is a challenge to the judiciary. When the freedom of worship is not denied even to one believer, law-making that grants freedom of worship to one sect and ownership to another is a deliberate attempt to create conflict in the peaceful functioning of churches. If the bill is implemented, the problem will get worse. It has to be suspected that even the discussions held by the government were a pre-prepared stage for bringing this illegal bill. There is a suspicion that the Chief Secretary is working as a sectarian. The officials said that if the government does not back down, they will approach the Supreme Court.