22-September-2004
{Indian Express, dt. 22-Sep-04}
Orthodox
Church opposition fails to unnerve Chandy
Wednesday
September 22 2004
09:27
IST
KOTTAYAM: Contrary to the
general perception that the popularity of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is at
stake, with a section of the leadership of the Orthodox Church to which he
belongs targeting him in the backdrop of the state visit of Ignatius Zakka I,
Patriarch of Antioch, his political base and mass support remain intact, if not
growing.
The general view is that the Orthodox faction, in spite of its genuine concerns
and legal upper hand on a few points vis-a-vis the Jacobite sect, has gone
overboard with its outburst against Chandy in the past few weeks.
The atmosphere also buttresses the fact that the Orthodox Church faithful in
Central Travancore are, by and large, a class apart from their counterparts in
the northern districts.
The majority of the Orthodox Church followers in the central and southern
districts seems to be averse to the open stand taken by Church supremo and
Malankara Metropolitan Catholicos Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews II against Chandy.
Even the majority of bishops in the Orthodox Church synod are reportedly against
the blitzkrieg against the Chief Minister.
The Catholicos might have been pressurised by a few such as Yohannan Mar
Milithios, who had crossed over from the Patriarch sect, as it is a question of
survival for the latter. Church faithful are very much agitated over the stand
taken against Chandy, a top Church functionary said.
When contacted, the Chief Minister said he was not one who would be cowed down
by threats.
In my 34-year stint as MLA, I have never dissociated myself from the affairs
of the Orthodox Church. I stood by reason and the status quo ordered by the
court in the Church feud. Unless there is a court verdict or an agreement
between the factions, there will not be any change in my policy, he said.
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IER20040922000102&Page=R&Title=Kerala&Topic=0&