Tension escalated in parts of India’s Kerala State as police used force to take over some churches of a Christian faction following a court order, aiming to give them to a rival camp.
In pre-dawn operations, police took over three churches of the Jacobite faction on be-half of the Malankara Orthodox faction. Police used force to remove hundreds of protesters including Jacobite priests and bishops.
“Women, children and bishops were subjected to cruel police brutality,” said a statement by Jacobite bishops after they met in an emergency Synod on Aug. 20.
They also registered their protest against the “inhuman and unjust” attitude of the Supreme Court that resulted in “the rushed move to take over the churches of the Jacobite Church.”
The Synod decided to organize protests at their churches while following Covid-19 protocols. The Synod also declared the severance of “all sacra-mental and spiritual relation-ship” with the Orthodox fact-ion, said Joseph Mar Gregorios, the metropolitan trustee and senior bishop of the Jacobite Church. More than 1,100 churches in the Jacobite Church’s possession are under the threat of forceful acquisition after the court order, said Biby Kadavumbhagam, who edits an official publication of the Jacobite faction.