Augustine Kandathil
Archbishop Augustine Kandathil was the first and longest serving Metropolitan and Head of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, the principal Church of the Saint Thomas Christians in India. He was the first Indian to assume powers and reign as an Archbishop of the Catholic Church.
He was born in Chempu, near Vaikom, Kingdom of Travancore, and was ordained a priest on 21 December 1901. In 1911, he was ordained Bishop and appointed Coadjutor to Bishop Aloysius Pazheparambil, and in 1919 succeeded the latter as Vicar Apostolic of Ernakulam. He became Archbishop and Head of the Syro-Malabar Church on 21 December 1923 when the Syro-Malabar Hierarchy was founded, and led the church until his demise.
He participated in the canonisation of the "Little Flower", Thérèse of Lisieux in 1925 and also visited and came to know at close quarters the activities of the Congregation of Christian Brothers during his visit to Ireland; this inspired the Archbishop to found the Congregation of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux on 19 March 1931. He was also the founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Nazareth in 1948. He died in Ernakulam, Travancore-Cochin, aged 81.
