The denial of burial to actress Priyanka Chopra’s grandmother by the church here was against the principles of Christianity, a bishop said here yesterday.
The incident occurred last week when the body of Mary John Akhouri was brought to the St John’s Attamangalam Jacobite Syrian Church at Kumarakom, the famed tourist destination, for the last rites.
Mary John Akhouri, who hails from Kumarakom, is the maternal grandmother of actress Priyanka Chopra.
Incidentally, the church is the home parish of Mary John’s parents and her parents are buried in the church cemetery.
According to Mary John’s relatives, it was her last wish that she be buried along with her parents in the church cemetery here.
When the body was brought here from Mumbai, a section of the church resisted the burial, forcing the actress to look elsewhere.
However, Bishop Thomas Mar Thimeothios, of the Jacobite Syrian Church, who knew Mary John well, came to the rescue and took the lead for the burial at another church in the same district.
Speaking to reporters here, the bishop said the action of the local church was not in tune with Christian principles.
The actress was heartbroken when she was told that the burial will not be allowed at her grandmother’s ancestral church.