A group of senior people attached to the Church of South India (CSI), including Valson Thampu, former principal of Delhi’s prestigious St Stephen’s College, have petitioned Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against giving state guest status to Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, when he arrives here later this month.

Thampu feels that through this visit by its topmost leader of Church of England (the Anglican Church), the church is aiming for a cleaning up of its image, sullied by a series of corruption charges.