Mar Augustine Kandathil

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Most Reverend Mar Augustine Kandathil (b. at Chempu, near Vaikom, in Kottayam, Kerala, 25 August 1874; d. at Ernakulam, Kerala, 10 January 1956) was the first Head of the Syro-Malabar Church, the principal Church of the St. Thomas Christians in India. He was the first Indian to assume powers and reign as an Archbishop of the Catholic Church.

He was ordained priest on 21 December 1901 and appointed the first rector of the Petit Seminary at Ernakulam. After being consecrated Bishop on 3 December 1911 and appointed Co-adjutor to the Vicar-Apostolic of Ernakulam Mar Louis Pazheparambil, he succeeded Bishop Pazheparambil as Vicar-Apostolic at his death on 9 December 1919.

The Syro-Malabar Hierarchy was founded by Pope Pius XI on 21 December 1923 with the Archdiocese of Ernakulam as its centre and Archbishop Mar Augustine Kandathil as its first Head, with suffragan Dioceses of Changanacherry, Kottayam, and Trichur, respectively under Bishops Mar Thomas Kurialachery, Mar Alexander Choolaparampil, and Mar Francis Vazhapally; this was the culmination of the centuries-old struggle for self-governance in the Syro-Malabar Church. Archbishop Kandathil led the Church from its helm for three and a half decades, until his demise at the age of 81.

During the Holy Year 1925, Archbishop Kandathil, together with Bishop Kurialachery, went on pilgrimage to Rome, the only time he left India, to thank the Pope for establishing the Hierarchy; they also participated in the canonisation of St. Thérèse de Lisieux on 17 May 1925. During his return, he visited the newly independent Republic of Ireland, was received by the Irish President and freedom fighter W. T. Cosgrave, and came to know at close quarters the activities of the Congregation of Christian Brothers; this inspired the Archbishop to found the Congregation of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux for Brothers (CST Brothers) in 1931; together with Fr. John Pinakatt and Mgr. Mathew Mankuzhikary, Archbishop Kandathil founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Nazareth (CSN Sisters) in 1948.

Archbishop Kandathil founded the Catholic weekly in Malayalam, the Sathyadeepam, in 1926, with his disciple the eminent theologian and literary critic Mgr. Jacob Naduvathussery as the editor, to disseminate the tenets of the Catholic faith and its social teaching; the erudition of Mgr. Naduvathussery in the theology of St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Anselm of Aosta, and St. Thomas Aquinas was harnessed in defence of the Catholic faith against atheism, rationalism, materialism, communism, usury, and moral relativism. The weekly serves as the mouthpiece of the Kerala Catholic Church to this day.

The daily newspaper in Malayalam, the Malabar Mail, which he founded in 1936 with the journalist Fr. Thomas Veluthedathu as the editor and the activist M. M. Varkey and the historian M. O. Joseph as assistant editors, proved decisive in fostering various political struggles in the Kingdom of Travancore during the regime of Dewan C. P. Ramaswami Iyer in the decade before Indian independence, such as the Utharavada bharanam [Responsible government] struggle and the struggle against the Education Bill piloted by Iyer. The paper was banned in Travancore, but continued to be published from Cochin and to be read in Travancore.

The Mar Louis Memorial Press was started to support these and other publications.

Archbishop Kandathil encouraged the expansion of the All Kerala Catholic Congress, the Catholic Action movement in Kerala which had been founded in 1905 at Ernakulam under the Presidency of Ezhupunna Parayil Avira Varkey Tharakan with the approval of Mar Louis Pazheparambil, and directed the clergy to extend all help to its organisers for recruiting lay members; he also granted an office building in Ernakulam to serve as its head-quarters. This helped the Catholic community to play a principal part in the popular struggles in Travancore and Cochin (under the leadership of Joseph Pettah, Professor of Economics at St. Thomas College, Thrissur, and Elanjikkal Thariath Kunjithommen, MLC from Muvattupuzha), starting with the Nivarthanam [Abstention] agitation for proportionate representation in 1932.

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio.
The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio.

Due to the efforts of Archbishop Kandathil, the dominion of the Syro-Malabar Church was extended beyond its traditional boundaries in 1955; this enabled the creation of the suffragan Diocese of Tellicherry under Bishop Mar Sebastian Vallopilly, for ministering to the substantial number of migrant Catholics in Northern Kerala (Malabar). The suffragan Diocese of Palai was created under Bishop Mar Sebastian Vayalil in 1950.

The Archbishop was an earnest supporter of the efforts of Geevarghese Mar Ivanios O. I. C. and his followers of the Oriental Orthodox Church to reunite with the Catholic Church; this eventually led to the creation of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church under Mar Ivanios at Trivandrum on 11 June 1932.

Archbishop Kandathil presided over the nineteenth centennial celebrations of the arrival of St. Thomas the Apostle at Kodungallur in 52 A. D. On this occasion, Eugène Cardinal Tisserant, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, brought from Ortona the remains of the right arm with which the doubting Apostle had touched the wounds of Jesus Christ to clear his doubts. The relic was installed in the Mar Thoma Pontifical Shrine that was built at Kodungallur as a replica of St. Peter's Basilica; the shrine was conferred Pontifical status by Pope Pius XII.

Archbishop Kandathil founded the Nirmala College, Muvattupuzha, in 1953.

As an administrator, he was noted for his attention to detail, and established systematic methods and practices of administration and accountancy in the Church. The Maharaja of Cochin adopted his innovations in accountancy to the administration of the Kingdom of Cochin.

The Mar Augustine Memorial Lisie Hospital, Ernakulam, was founded in his memory in the years following his demise, as a token of his devotion to St. Thérèse de Lisieux, in accordance with his vision and plans, and continues to provide succour to the destitute of Ernakulam.

He is interred at St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica, Ernakulam.

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Preceded by
Mar Aloysius Pazheparambil		 Archbishop of Ernakulam
1919–1956		 Succeeded by
Mar Joseph Cardinal Parecattil
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