Why are two Christian factions engaged in a ‘holy war’ in India’s Kerala?
- A decades-long dispute between two rival Christian factions in Kerala sparked a recent stand-off in a church at the centre of the tussle
- India’s Supreme Court ruled in favour of one faction, but authorities were afraid that implementing the order would lead to religious strife
The massive police deployment was ordered after one of the factions refused to vacate the church building despite a Supreme Court order. A dozen bishops and hundreds of worshippers stubbornly remained inside the premises for several hours, singing and chanting prayers, which led to a stand-off with both police and the rival group.
Acting on a judicial order, riot police used cutters to bring down the iron gates of the building before forcibly evicting hundreds of worshippers to make way for the other faction to conduct prayers. Several bishops and protesters were arrested. Since the stand-off, security forces have remained outside the church to prevent any further incidents.
St Mary’s Church is at the centre of a tussle between followers of the Kerala Malankara Orthodox Church and the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church. The historic building is one of the 1,100 parishes and churches the two factions have been fighting over for more than half a century.
In 2017, the Indian Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Orthodox faction, ordering that the management of the Malankara churches should be handed over to them. The ruling was based on the Malankara Church constitution signed in 1934 which grants administrative control of parishes to the Orthodox group. But the verdict was not implemented over concerns of potential religious strife.
Since then, more than a dozen petitions have been filed at the apex court to reconsider its decision and all of them have been shot down, with the court continuing to uphold the 1934 constitution.
The Supreme Court has more than once criticised the local government and lower judiciary for failing to enforce its verdict. Subsequently, the Kerala High Court set a deadline of the end of September for the Jacobites to be completely evacuated from the churches.