Tension continues to simmer at the Mateer Memorial Church at the LMS compound in the capital city, a month after 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 Moderator Dharmaraj Rasalam.
On Sunday, the police had to stop large number of parishioners of the church, who are opposed to the move, after they took out a protest march to the Martyr's Column at Palayam. The move was to prevent a confrontation of the parishioners with the CSI's official faction who were organising the CSI platinum jubilee celebrations on the church premises.
The police had barricaded the main road in front of the Public Office at Museum Junction. The parishioners' rally, headed to the Martyr's Column, reached the junction in the afternoon.
They demanded that the rally be allowed to proceed through the road, which passed in front of the church. Although the police proposed an alternate route through Nandavanam, the parishioners insisted on taking the original route.
After the police refused permission, the group had a sit-in protest on the road till evening.
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 portrayed the takeover as one aimed at taking control of the commercial establishments, including a wedding hall, on the premises.
The diocese had last month disbanded the existing church committee, representing the 2,400 families that are part of the church congregation, and formed a new committee to take complete control of the church. The parishioners 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.
