A couple that was denied the sacrament of marriage on racial grounds, despite a high court order, is suing a Syro-Malabar archbishop and priest for contempt of court.
Justin John, a Catholic from the Kottayam archdiocese, filed a contempt of court petition against Abp. Mathew Moolakkatt and Fr. Sijo Stephan in the Kerala High Court on Friday, upping the ante in a 30-year-long battle against the racist practice of “pure blood” Knanaya Catholics.
The Knanaya Catholics, an endoga-mous group, claim to be the “pure blood” descendants of 72 Jewish Christian families who arrived in India in A.D. 345 from Syria under the leadership of Thomas of Cana, a Syrian merchant.
Laity and clergy who insist on “racial purity” for purposes of sacramental marriage argue that Pope Pius X, through his bull In Universi Cristiani, created the archeparchy of Kottayam in 1911 exclusively for Knanaya Catholics.
Catholics who marry outside the Knanaya community are expelled from the membership of the archdiocese. According to the book Blood Weddings, edited by C. K. Punnen and Lukose Mathew, many Catholics have been expelled on racial grounds in the past decades.
The eparchy does not evangelize or baptize converts to the Catholic Church, so as not to taint the racial purity of its endogamous community with the blood of converts from other communities.
Should a Knanaya Catholic wed a person from outside the community, their children are no longer classified as Knanaya Catholics, and thus are not permitted to marry within the diocese.
If a Knanaya Catholic marries a person from outside the community, their children are no longer considered Knanaya Catholics and hence are not allowed to marry within the diocese.