Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Kolenchery Church Judgment by Fr. Dr. Johns Abraham KONAT

This is the Kolenchery Church Judgement by Fr. Dr. Johns Abraham KONAT  which I got from one of the Groups in Yahoo. Thought of sharing this judgement on this blog. Go through the judgement given below.

Kolenchery Church Judgment by Fr. Dr. Johns Abraham KONAT

KOLENCHERY CHURCH JUDGMENT
Fr. Dr. Johns Abraham KONAT


The judgment pronounced by the District Court Ernakulam on 16th August 2011 about the administration of the St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s church, Kolenchery was the verdict on an Original Suit filed by the Partiarch’s group in 2007 (OS 43/2007) for obtaining the following reliefs.

1. For obtaining a declaration that the Kolenchery church and its assets are liable to be administered only in accordance with the terms of an Udampady registered in 1913 and not in accordance with the 1934 constitution.
2. To settle a scheme for administering the church and its assets and its institutions.
3. For getting an order from the court to appoint a receiver who may prepare a voters list of all the parishioners and conduct fresh
elections to the managing committee.
4. To issue an injunction prohibiting the handing over of keys of the church to Fr. Jacob Kurian, the vicar appointed by H. G. Dr. Mathews Mar Severios.

The court after considering the various issues passed a verdict on these crucial issues as follows.

1. Whether a declaration that the church is administered by the 1913 Udampady is allowable?

The patriarch’s party’s main contention was that 1934 constitution was not accepted by the Kolenchery church. The judgment says that the Supreme Court (SC) judgment 1995 upholds the 1934 constitution and there is no mention that each parish should accept this constitution by convening a general body of the parishioners. This means that each parish of the Church is bound by the SC judgment to accept the 1934 constitution. No special decision of the parishioners is necessary for this. The SC verdict is applicable to the Kolenchery church even if  the church was not a party to those suits. So the verdict clearly says the Patriarch’s group even cannot contend that the 1934 constitution
is not valid and not applicable to the Kolenchery church. So it cannot be declared that the church should be governed by the 1913 Udampady.

2. Whether a scheme of administration has to be settled ?
The Patriarch’s party claimed that after 1972 elections were not held to the managing committee of the parish and the governing body of its institutions. The Orthodox Church argued that elections were held regularly according to the 1934 constitution, and such elections were recognized by the metropolitan. Evidences of such elections were produced before the court. The verdict says that the stand of the Patriarch’s group cannot be accepted as it is against the SC finding. “First of all they have to accept and recognize 1934 constitution and then only their prayer for conducting election to committees can be considered. There is no question at all to frame a scheme (for administration) when 1934 constitution is in existence and when it is held valid and applicable to the 1st defendant (Kolenchery church)”. Thus the court dismissed their prayer to settle a scheme of administration. The judgment further says that “the parish members in the church has right to decide regarding the administration of the
properties and the educational institutions under it. But as stated earlier, only when the plaintiffs (Patriarch’s group) or other members in the Patriarch faction accept and recognize 1934 constitution, their contention can be entertained”. So the point is answered against the Patriarch’s group.

3. The court also considered whether election to managing committee has to be conducted by a receiver. The finding of the question in No.2 does not allow for such an action and thus it was not allowed.

4. The plaintiffs prayed for an injunction to restrain Fr. Jacob Kurian and his agents from receiving the keys of the church. No such injunction was allowed.

The court dismissed all the prayers of the plaintiffs (Patriarch’s group) and confirmed that Fr. Jacob Kurian is entitled to get the keys of the church – the keys were already in his possession as per the interim order in IA 3984/2010

EVALUATION


This order is very important for the future litigation of the Church. It upholds the SC verdict and affirms that the 1934 constitution is binding on the parish churches. The basic contention of the Patriarch’s group that the SC judgment is not binding to the parishes is quashed. The verdict says that those who do not accept the 1934 constitution do not have any claim on the administration of the church and its properties. By asking to hand over the keys to Fr. Jacob Kurien the court has recognized the authority of the bishop (H. G. Dr. Mathews Mar Severios) who appointed him over the administration of the church and its properties.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PRESENT LITIGATION

The original suite (OS) which culminated in the present judgment was filed by the Patriarch’s party in 2007. During the pendency of the OS both parties (The Patriarch’s party as well as the Orthodox Church) filed IAs seeking interim reliefs. Both the IAs were heard together by the District Court and an order was given in 2 – 12 – 2010. According
to this the court ordered that the church be opened. The Orthodox Church can celebrate Qurbana on two Sundays and the patriarch’s party may be given freedom to celebrate Qurbana on every third Sunday. The keys were to be given to Fr. Jacob Kurien who was recognized as the rightful vicar of the parish and the administration has to be carried
out by the existing managing committee which was elected by the Orthodox church according to the 1934 constitution. This arrangement was fixed till the disposal of the OS. According to this order the Kolenchery church was opened once again in 2 – 12 – 2010. and we took possession of the church and its properties. The maintenance work of
the church was initiated. The patriarch’s party had no other right except to celebrate liturgy every third Sunday. The patriarch’s party filed an appeal in the High Court challenging this interim order. But the High Court did not give them any additional relief but directed the district court to dispose off the OS within 2 months. Thus the District court took up the matter and issued the judgment on 16th August 2011 and H. G. Dr. Mathews Mar Severios Metropolitan celebrated Holy Qurbana at Kolenchery church on
17th August 2011. The Patriarch’s party approached the same court for a stay order. On 18th August the same District court stayed the operation of the judgment for 15 days in order to get reasonable time to file appeal.The parties are directed to maintain status quo with regard to the services conducted by both parties. No judgment or any verdict was issued from any Honorable Court to restrain H. G. Dr. Mathews Mar Severios Metropolitan from exercising His Grace’s Episcopal authority and celebrating Holy Qurbana at Kolenchery church.

Fr. Dr. Johns Abraham KONAT
20 – 08 – 2011

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Fr. Johns Abraham Konattu Explaining the Kolenchery Church Case


This is a video in which Fr. Johns Abraham Konattu explains in details about the Kolenchery Church case. This speech was conducted few days back and would be much beneficial for those who still don't have a clear idea about the reasons behind the Kolenchery St. Peters and St. Pauls Church issue.

Will the Kolenchery Church Issue be Solved in 15 Days?

The officials have promised to solve the Kolenchery Church issue in the enxt 15 days, which has given a huge relief to the believers and members of this parish. Tension arouse between the two sects of the Malankara Church 2 weeks back due the dispute that prevailed on behalf of the owner ship of the Church. The Orthodox factions have the court order in favour of them, but the Jacobite factions are not able to digest the court order and they started agitation and protest. The Orthodox faction also started fasted near the Church which made the scenario more tense.

After a week of fasting, officials intervened in the matter and have promised to bring about a solution in the next 15 days. But HOW? Both the factions are standing firm of their decisions and it doesn't seems that there would be a peaceful solution for this. All the government has to do is to implement the court order which is in favour of the Orthodox Church. Even though the Jacobite factions are making claims over the Kolenchery Church with some other reasons which are not at all valid, they are sure to make strong protest against the implementation of the court order, resulting in more head ache to the officials.

The Orthodox factions have already stated that they have no objection in the believers of the Jacobite faction entering the Church and attending rituals and conducting mass. The only thing Orthodox factions demands is that no Priests and Bishops from the Jacobite faction should enter the Church. They have even stated that there would be no issues in the sharing of cemeteries associated with the Kolenchery Church. But the Jacobite factions (especially the leaders) are not at all in a mood to accept this offer and this leads to more issues as far as finding a solution in considered.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Kolenchery Church Issues to be Solved in 2 Weeks

As per the written assurance by Ernakulam District Collector, the Kolenchery Church Issues would be solved in 2 weeks. In case the Kolenchery church dispute does not get solved in 2 weeks, then the court order would be executed. This has given hopes for the Orthodox factions as the court order is in favour of them. On the other hand, the Jacobite faction would not be able to digest this and would go to any level to prevent the court order from being executed.

Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan Baselios Marthom Paulose II has stoped his fasting after the assurance by the authorities. On the other hand the Jacobite Catholicos Baselios Thomas I has warned people to be vigilant and alleged that the Orthodox faction was trying to overpower the churches belonging to Jacobites. He also stated that the Jacobite faction would prevent any such moves. Two days ago, he also made  a blunder statement saying that the Orthodox faction had bribed the Supreme court officials to get the judgement in favour of them.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has also assured to solve the Kolenchery Church issue at the earliest. Meanwhile the Orthodox faction has stated that it would not cooperate with the mediation committee appointed by the court. There are still many other major Churches in Kerala which are in dispute such as Kadamattom Church, Kothamangalam Cheriyapalli, Manarcad Church, Mulanthuruty Church etc and all of these churches were declared as the assets of the Orthodox Church as per the 1995 Supreme Court verdict.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Kolenchery Church

Kolenchery Church or Kolenchery St.Peters and St. Pauls Church is one of the ancient Churches of Malankara Orthodox Church or Indian Orthodox Church. The Kolenchery Church has been in the news recently for the factional feuds that exists between the Official (Orthodox) and the Unofficial (Jacobites) factions. Spiritual heads of both the Orthodox and Jacobite sects conducted fastings and prayers in the nearby Chapels.

The court order has been ruled in favor of the Orthodox faction, as it clearly states that Kolenchery Church belongs to the the Orthodox Church on behalf of the 1934 constitution.  But the Jacobite faction is not at all in a position to accept the court order and they are using all types of protest to stop the execution of the court verdict.