Date:08/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/08/stories/2009010853170500.htm

Kerala - Kochi

Patriarch faction accused of trying to use force

Kochi: The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church has said it will oppose any move by the Patriarch faction to forcibly enter the Thrikunnathu seminary near here at any cost.

At a press conference here on Wednesday, Fr. Johns Abraham Konatt, priest trustee, Fr. Mathai Idayanal, manager of the seminary, and other office-bearers said the Patriarch faction was trying to use force when it realised that it had not been able to establish its rights over the seminary before courts. The Orthodox Church wanted the Patriarch faction to adhere to the terms of an agreement hammered out in the presence of the district administration and the police in 2005.

They said that persons behind the murder of the Orthodox Church’ managing committee member T.M. Varghese should be brought to book. He was murdered in broad daylight six years ago.