KOTTAYAM: Voicing strong protest at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s criticism of the Orthodox faction on the issue of the inter-Church dispute, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church leadership called the chief minister’s remarks unfortunate and a challenge to the count ry’s judi c ial system. In a release here, Youhanon Mar Diascoros, secretary, Orthodox Church Episcopal Synod, said the chief minister has taken a biased stance which does not behove his position.
“It is unfortunate that the chief minister, who has constitutional obligation to implement the Supreme Court judgment, acts as the spokesperson of a faction. In the past, other Churches never intervened in the internal affairs of a Church. However, the CM has paved the way for that too. Any attempt to keep the Church dispute alive to derive political gains out of it will be resisted,” he said.
According to him, it is also unfortunate that without an honest inquiry into strength of the parishes, the figures given by one section in the dispute are fully trusted.
The synod secretary also dismissed the CM’s statement on the cemetery issue. “The Orthodox Church has not prevented the cremation of any of its members. The Church was ready to cremate the bodies respectfully. But it was the Jacobite sect that disrespected the corpses by forcing banned priests to enter the church.
“The only demand was that funeral should be done in the presence of the legally responsible vicar. It is sad that the chief minister did not even inquire into the manner in which the funerals took place in the churches under the control of the Patriarchate,” he said.
Youhanon Mar Diascoros added that the Orthodox Church and the general public expect a response from the CM taking into account the various aspects of Church disputes. The chief minister’s remarks alleging lapses on the part of Orthodox Church will lead to fictitious and misleading reactions in society. “It is pretty unfortunate that the Church has been blamed for this. The main accusation was that the Church was unwilling to make compromises. He can examine how many times the Orthodox Church had participated in discussions to resolve the issue amicably with the Patriarchate,” he said.
Bishops attend Pillai’s capital luncheon
Kochi: Mizoram Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai hosted a lunch for the representatives of the Orthodox and Jacobite factions at the Mizoram House in New Delhi on Tuesday. “Both factions have clarified their stance to the PM. Now they will discuss the developments within their Churches. We expect it will open the way for conciliation. Both factions have expressed satisfaction over the progress of the talks. I intervened in the issue on request from leaders of both groups and facilitated a meeting with the PM. The dispute is deeprooted and both sides will have to compromise,” Pillai told TNIE.