Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala priest who joined BJP removed from church

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala’s leading Iglesia Ortodoxa priest Father Shaiju Kurien, who joined the BJP along with around 50 Christian families, has been temporarily relieved of his duties in the diocese pending investigation, officials said on Friday. . , Kurien has since served as the secretary of the Iglesia Ortodoxa Nilakkal Bhadrasanam (diocese) in Pathanamthitta district and the vice-president of the Diocese School of Nilakkal Bhadrasanam. The BJP, which has long been courting Kerala’s Christian community, announced on December 31 that Father Kurien and about 50 families from the minority community had joined the party in the state. According to a statement issued by Nilakkal Bhadrasanam on Friday, the decision to temporarily remove the priest from all current posts in the church pending investigation was taken by the council of the diocese convened on January 4. However, the reason for action against him has not been mentioned in the statement of the Public Relations Officer. According to the release, the council decided to request Catholica Bava, supreme leader of the Iglesia Orthodoxa de Malankara, to form an inquiry commission to investigate the complaint received against Father Kurien. He said they decided to complete the investigation within a period of two months. Nilakkal Bhadrasanam said, he will name a new priest as vice-president of the Dominical school. On 31 December, the BJP announced through a post on Facebook that P. Shaiju Kurien and around 50 Christian families had joined the party in the presence of Union Minister V Muraleedharan. The BJP said several people from the Kerala Congress (Jacob) faction also joined the party in the presence of state president K Surendran in Thrissur district last Saturday. The party attributed this trend of minorities joining its ranks to the visionary vision of development led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The incident occurred soon after the BJP resumed its ‘Sneh Yatra’, an extension program aimed at connecting with the Christian community in the state.