The Mateer Memorial Church in the capital city witnessed dramatic scenes on Friday morning as the South Kerala diocese of the Church of South India (CSI) took over control of the church and converted it into a cathedral, making it the headquarters of the CSI Thiruvananthapuram bishop Dharmaraj Rasalam. A large number of parishioners of the church protested vociferously against the move and hooted at the bishop after he made the announcement of conversion to cathedral.
The diocese also disbanded the existing church committee, representing the 2,400 families which are part of the church congregation, and formed a new committee, which the protesters termed a ‘puppet committee’. The parishioners have accused the henchmen of the diocese of stealing their official documents, which proved their rightful control over the church, and of breaking open the gate to ‘invade’ the church. The diocese authorities had brought in a large number of believers from various parts of the district. Police personnel intervened, separating both sections of believers to prevent any untoward incident.
Build in 1906
The 115-year-old church, one of the iconic buildings in the city, is located on the LMS compound, spread over 17.5 acres. The CSI has 24 dioceses under it, with the South Kerala diocese having 610 churches under its control. The London Missionary Society, which had begun its activities in the region in the early 1800s, had constructed the church in 1906, and named it after its first missionary Samuel Mateer. After 1947, the society and eight others merged to form the CSI. Though it is under the CSI, the Mateer Memorial Church has maintained some level of autonomy with any decision on its running being taken by the committee constituted by the congregation.
The issues at the church started in January this year, when the South Kerala diocese announced its decision to convert it into a cathedral. The parishioners, who put up large banners in front of the church against the move, said that the move would destroy the democratic and autonomous nature of the church. They have portrayed the takeover as aimed at taking control of the commercial establishments, including a wedding hall, on the premises.
Legal steps mooted
“The gang led by the bishop, who is supposed to ensure peace and uphold spirituality, has indulged in sheer thuggery. They broke open the gates, stole all our documents, chased away parishioners who had come to pray and occupied the church using outsiders brought in buses. This conversion to cathedral is aimed at taking control of the land. We will take all possible legal measures to counter this undemocratic move,” says Thampi Samraj, secretary of the church committee, which was disbanded by the bishop.
But the diocese authorities had maintained that the entire property belongs to the CSI Trust Association as per a 1947 agreement and hence the owners can decide the nature of the properties within it. “A few families have illegally kept control of the church and not remitted the share from the shopping complex rent, cemetery rent and wedding hall rent, which they are supposed to legally remit to the diocese. The church committee also does not submit its figures for the diocese’s audit board. Also, only the South Kerala diocese, among the six dioceses of the CSI in Kerala, does not have a cathedral of its own. Now, we have the LMS Cathedral. We have not taken any of their documents,” said T.T. Praveen, administrative secretary of the South Kerala diocese.
