Kasaragod: After fighting a contempt of court case for over a year, the Knanaya Catholic Church issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) to a parishioner to marry a non-Knanaya Catholic woman but firmly refused to solemnise the sacramental marriage in any of its parishes.

Jestin John (31), an autorickshaw driver and member of St Anne's (Knanaya Catholic) Church at Kottody in Kasaragod's Kallar grama panchayat, said he felt cheated by the Church for the second time and will approach the High Court again to reopen the contempt of court case or file a new petition against Mar Mathew Moolakkat, the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archeparchy of Kottayam, which is exclusively for the Knanaya faithful.

Justice MA Abdul Hakhim, the sixth judge to hear Jestin's contempt petition filed on August 22, 2023, closed the case on September 3, 2024, after the church gave a no-objection certificate for marriage to his lawyer. But Jestin's parish vicar Fr Saneesh Kayyalakkakath, who signed the NOC, told him that his marriage to Vijimol Shaji, a non-Knanaya Catholic woman, cannot be conducted in his Knanaya parish.

When Onmanorama contacted Fr Kayyalakkakath, he said the NOC was issued because of a standing interim order from the High Court. "But we will not conduct his marriage in any Knanaya parishes. He is free to approach any other Catholic church," he said. "Jestin's membership in Knanaya church after his marriage to a non-Knanaya Catholic woman will depend on a case we are fighting in the High Court. If we lose that case, we will approach the Supreme Court," said the young vicar of St Anne's Church.

A senior Knanaya priest, handling the endogamy case in Kottayam, said that the NOC was given to Jestin on the specific request that he approach another Catholic church for marriage. "So there is no question of him coming back to his parish for conducting the marriage," he said.
With St Anne's Church issuing the NOC for marriage, Jestin said the parish was legally bound to solemnise his wedding in the parish. "It is my right to get married in my parish. Vijimol is seven months pregnant. I do not want our child to be discriminated against. I will take the Church to the court again," said Jestin, who drives an autorickshaw for a living.

The first contempt
Jestin first approached the High Court with a contempt petition against Mar Mathew Moolakkat when the church did not issue him the NOC, resulting in the cancellation of his wedding.

On May 18, 2023, Jestin and Vijimol, a member of St. Xavier's Roman Catholic Church in Kottody, were scheduled to marry at the bride's church. A Catholic parish can solemnise the marriage of a non-member only if they produce a no-objection certificate, known as 'Kettu Kury,' in the designated Form C, from their parish priest. "We planned our wedding and invited about a thousand guests, based on my parish priest's assurance that he would send the C form to Viji's parish vicar," said Jestin.

But on the wedding day, St Anne's then vicar Stijo Stephen did not send the C form and St Xavier's Church vicar Fr Emmanuel Koonankiyil refused to solemnise the wedding.

Though they could not marry, their well-wishers encouraged the bride and groom to exchange garlands outside the church. The unwed bride and groom returned to Jestin's house as a couple. Since their sacramental marriage was not solemnised in the church, Jestin John and Vijimol Shaji were not allowed to go to confession or receive Holy Communion. "The Knanaya Church denies us the right to live as Christians. When our child is born, the church won’t allow baptism either. I hope to win the case before that," said Jestin.

Forced 'voluntary' exit
The Knanaya Church usually grants NOC to those marrying outside the sect if they apply for 'Permission to Leave the Eparchy of Kottayam' (PLEK), which is effectively a way to exclude such individuals. "I don't want to leave the Knanaya Church. That's why I did not sign PLEK and am fighting the exclusionary system legally," said Jestin.

Jestin's contempt of court petition against Mar Moolakkat, the head of Knanaya Church, was based on the court order dated November 1, 2021.

In the interim order, Justice VG Arun ruled: "If any member of a church under the Kottayam Archeparchy wishes to marry a Catholic from another diocese, he/she can make a request to the Archbishop and the Archeparchy for issuance of Vivaha Kuri or no objection certificate. On receipt of the request, they shall issue the Vivaha Kuri or no objection certificate, without insisting on any letter of relinquishment of that person's membership with the Kottayam Archeparchy."

The interim order was issued when Mar Moolakkat and the Archeparchy of Kottayam appealed against the trial court decision to end forced endogamy and ordered to readmit those who lost their membership for marrying outside the sect. It also directed the Knanaya Church to give membership to children of such couples, too.

The order was issued by the Kottayam Additional Subordinate Court judge Sudheesh Kumar S on April 30, 2021, on a petition filed by the Knanaya Catholic Naveekarana Samithy (KCNS), a reformist organisation.
The Archbishop and Archeparchy went for appeal, but the Additional District Judge Sanu S Panicker upheld the sub-court order.

The Archbishop and Archeparchy filed a revision petition in the high court but the reformists won another favourable interim order, which helped Jestin file the first contempt of court case.

The trial court order struck at the root of the Knanaya Church's 16-century-old practice of endogamy and since then it never got a favourable order, said Biju Uthup (64), vice president of the Global Knanaya Reform Movement (GKRM), which is a party in the case.

Uthup said the Knanaya Church refused to give him 'Vivah Kuri' after a complaint was made that he was not of pure blood because his maternal grandmother was a Latin Catholic. (This despite his older siblings marrying in Knanaya Church.)

"That forced me to file a case against the then Bishop Kuriakose Kunnassery in 1989. That was the first case against the Knananya Church's practise of endogamy," he said. Later, the Church refused to baptise Uthup's daughter for 10 years.
"The same unjust treatment I and my daughter faced will be experienced by others such as Jestin and his child unless the courts intervene to ensure fairness and equality for all members, regardless of their ancestry."