| |
|
Judgment by the Supreme Court of the State of New
York, County of Richmond, on the dispute case of Mar Gregorios Syrian
Orthodox Church, Staten Island, New York
Historic
judgment was made by the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of
Richmond, on the dispute case of Mar Gregorios Syrian Orthodox Church,
Staten Island, New York.
Hon. Robert
J. Gigante, Justice of the Supreme Court has signed the judgment Index No.
10038/02 dated March 21, 2006 with all motions granted in favor of the
Malankara Archdiocese of Syrian Orthodox Church in North America under the
ecclesiastical authority of His Holiness the Patriarch of Antioch.
Here are some major quotes from the 5-page long judgment:
Page 2
-
Ordered,
Adjudged and Decreed that the issue of whether the Patriarch of Antioch or
the Catholicos of East is the proper ecclesiastical authority to appoint
the Archbishop of the Malankara Archdiocese in North America be and the
same hereby is decided in favor of the Patriarch of Antioch and it is
further
-
Ordered,
Adjudged and Decreed that the documentary evidence leads to the conclusion
that the Patriarch is the proper ecclesiastical authority to appoint the
Archbishop of the Malankara Archdiocese in North America and not the
Catholicos of the East, and that he has a good cause to excommunicate the
former Bishop Nicholovos, and it is further
-
Ordered,
Adjudged and Decreed that Fr. Abraham Kuriakose Karukayil, is the proper
authorized Vicar of the Mar Gregorios Syrian Orthodox Church, Inc. and was
rightfully appointed by his hierarchical superior, then Archbishop
Mathews, in office March 2, 2002 to January 3, 2004, appointed by the
hierarchical superior, the supreme ecclesiastical authority of the Syrian
Orthodox Church, Inc of the Malankara Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox
Church of North America, and it is further
-
Ordered,
Adjudged and Decreed that the excommunicated former Archbishop, Nicholovos
Zacharia, and N.K. Ittanpillai, and any and all persons claiming to act on
their behalf, be and herby are restrained from entering the Staten Island
parish for the purpose of disrupting or interfering with or in any fashion
ongoing religious services, and are restrained from falsely representing
themselves as Bishop or Vicar of parishes located in said Diocese, the
Malankara Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church of North America, or
falsely claiming in any way to represent said Diocese, and is further
Page 3
-
Ordered,
Adjudged and Decreed, said Nicholovos Zachariah and N.K. Ittanpillai, and
their followers, be and the same hereby are restrained from using any of
the real or personal property belonging to said parish, and are directed
to turn over to the Diocese any and all savings accounts, checking
accounts, Certificates of Deposit, and any and all properties and funds of
the Parish and Diocse, and to account for same, and it is further
-
Ordered,
Adjudged and Decreed that the said Nicholovos Zacharia, and N.K.
Ittanpillai be and they hereby are restrained from using the name of Mar
Gregorios Syrian Orthodox Church Inc. of the Malankara Archdiocese of
Syrian Orthodox Church of North America, nor may they claim the said
Church as a plaintiff when in fact they were not and are not authorized to
do so or to represent the Church in any matter, and it is further
-
Ordered,
Adjudged and Decreed that the said Nicholovos Zacharia, and N.K.
Ittanpillai and any and all the persons claiming to act on their behalf,
be and they hereby are restrained from entering the said Staten Island
Church or any and all parishes of said Church for the purpose of
disrupting or interfering with in any fashion ongoing religious services,
and from falsely representing themselves as Bishop or Vicar of any
parishes located in the Diocese and from falsely claiming to represent the
Diocese, and it is further.
-
Ordered,
Adjudged and Decreed that all savings accounts, checking accounts, real
and personal property be turned over to the Archbishop Theethos (Titus)
Yeldho Pathickal, or the authorized Vicar, or his authorized
representative, or to counsel, Mann & Mann LLP and they be required to
account for same, and they keys to the Church, all other church property,
both real and personal, records, minutes books, corporate documents, seals
and all other property, including any
vehicles, safe deposit boxes and contents, church and baptismal records,
furniture, books, computers, electronic equipment, money, vestments, Holy
Elements, items used in connection with church liturgy or any other
personal property of like kind or description, and it is further
The court
also ordered the Malankara Archdiocese of Syrian Orthodox Church of North
America to recover the cost and disbursements of the amount of $885.00 from
the Defendants to counterclaims Nicholovos Zacharia, and N.K. Ittanpillai.
This historic
judgment has clearly emphasized on the full ecclesiastical authority of His
Holiness the Patriarch of Antioch over the parishes in the Malankara
Archdiocese. The false claim of the MOSC propagandists that the Devalokam
Catholicos is the rightful hierarchy was blown off by the court with the
very convincing statement that the court finds a good cause in the
excommunication of the former bishop Nicholovos Zachariah. The court
has also restrained the excommunicated bishop Nicholovos and priest N.K.
Ittanpillai, and any and all of their followers from entering the parish and
any of the parishes of the Malankara Archdiocese in North America.
The full
version of the judgment will be posted in due course for future reference.
Source: Mr.
Bobby Kuriakose, USA
 Back
Top
|
|
