Michael Augustine

Savarinathan Michael Augustine (12 June 1933 – 4 November 2017) was an Indian prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the Archbishop of Pondicherry and Cuddalore from 1992 to 2004. He was an honorary member of the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris. He served the church for 39 years as a bishop and for 56 years as a priest. He died on 4 November 2017.

Augustine was sometimes referred to as the "People's Bishop", and "Bishop of the poor." He was fluent in English, French, Tamil, and Latin. He was a Tamil scholar, as well as a lyricist, poet, writer, singer, pianist, magician and artist.

Early life Augustine was born on June 12, 1933, at Kovilanoor, in the Pondicherry-Cuddalore Archdiocese.

Augustine started his school career at Petit Seminaire Higher Secondary School, Pondicherry and then joined the minor seminary at St. Agnes Seminary, Cuddalore. He received the pallium from his predecessor, Archbishop Emeritus Venmani S. Selvanather, at the Cathedral of Pondicherry Archdiocese. On 10 June 2004, he voluntarily resigned as the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore (India), citing medical reasons.

Episcopal ministry at Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore (1978–81) On 30 January 1978, Pope Paul VI appointed Augustine as the Auxiliary Bishop of Madras-Mylapore Archdiocese to assist Archbishop Arullappa and bestowed upon him the titular see of Barrus. He was consecrated a bishop at the age of 45 years by then-Archbishop Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy (later Cardinal) with co-consecrators Archbishop Venmani S. Selvanather of Pondicherry and Archbishop Anthony Rayappa Arulappa of Madras as on 29 March 1978, the episcopal ordination mass was attended by many bishops from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Pondicherry regions and many priests and laity attended. He chose "FIAT", meaning "Let Lord's will be done", as his Episcopal motto. Under the guidance of Archbishop Arullappa, Augustine learnt many things and served as an auxiliary bishop for nearly three years.

Episcopal ministry at Diocese of Vellore (1981–92) On 19 June 1981, Augustine, till then Auxiliary Bishop of Madras-Mylapore, was appointed by the Pope John Paul II as the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Vellore. The installation service took place on 24 July 1981 at 6 p.m. in the Cathedral Campus at Vellore.

Augustine was the Bishop of Vellore for almost 11 years. During his time there, almost 100 churches and chapels were built, along with six convents and dispensaries and three high schools, and five elementary schools were upgraded to middle schools. However, he remained as the Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese until 5 July 2004, the day of the canonical possession of his successor.

Post-retirement After his retirement as Archbishop of Pondicherry and Cuddalore, Augustine stayed in his retirement home which is behind Holy Family Church, Keezhputhupattu in the outskirts of Pondicherry near Kalapet. During these years, Father A. J. C. Lawrence (his nephew and clergy of Pondicherry) also helped him.

He composed two books of Psalms during this period namely "The Psalm of a Priest" and "The Psalm of a Bishop."

Death and funeral In September 2017, he was admitted in "Be Well Hospital", Pondicherry but was later discharged and was taking rest in the Archbishop’s House. On 4 November 2017, the morning after he complained of uneasiness to his helper, he was rushed to the hospital where he died at 9:50 a.m. when Anandarayar completed the prayer by making the sign of the cross in the presence of Father A. J. C. Lawrence.

His remains were immediately embalmed in PIMS, Pondicherry and was taken first to his retirement home where Eucharist was celebrated following which his remains were brought to the Archbishop's House in Pondicherry and kept there until 6 p.m. His remains were then transferred to Escande Hall in Petit Seminaire Higher Secondary School, Pondicherry at 6:30 p.m. for public veneration. Massive crowds poured in to pay tribute and last respects. Archbishop George Antonysamy of Madras, Bishop Peter Abir of Sulthanpet, Bishop Antony Devotta of Trichy, Bishop Emeritus Peter Remigius of Kottar visited, prayed and paid their last respects. His remains remained there until 9:50 a.m. on 6 November 2017.

Several Archbishops, Bishops, Priests, religious laity and people of other faith attended his funeral on 6 November 2017. The funeral procession began from Petit Seminaire School and ended in the Cathedral of Pondicherry.

During the funeral mass, Bishop Sebastianappan Singaroyan (student of Augustine at St.Peter's Pontifical Seminary, Bangalore) preached a sermon on the sanctity, sincerity and love of Augustine and on his life of FIAT.

After the funeral mass, Archbishop Chinnappa sung in Latin the final rites inside the cathedral. The eulogy was read by Archbishop Antony Pappusamy, Bishop Soundarajan, Archbishop Anandarayar, CRI President of Pondicherry, Fr. Arulselvam Rayappan of St. Peter's Pontifical Seminary and by the Vicar General of Madras-Mylapore Archdiocese. His remains were then carried to the clergy cemetery in the cathedral where his nephew A. J. C. Lawrence blessed the new cemetery and the remains of his uncle. He was then laid to rest there.

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