Amid a legal battle between Jacobite and Orthodox factions, Kerala High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to take over the St Thomas Church at Kothamangalam in Eranakulam district.
"The court directed the government to take over the church with immediate effect. It said that the District Collector should take charge of the church, evict it and hand it over to the Orthodox Church," Father Thomas Paul Rampan told ANI.
He said that this is a golden opportunity for the unification of the church and appealed people from all factions to come together for prayers.
The High Court's decision comes on Rampan's plea seeking implementation of 2017 Supreme Court verdict which had ordered handing over more than 1,000 parishes and churches of the Malankara Church to the Orthodox faction.