Thevarparampil Kunjachan

It was during his convalescence in Ramapuram that Father Augustine discovered his true mission. During an annual parish retreat, preachers gathered about two hundred Dalits (the "untouchables," excluded from the caste system, living in extreme poverty and illiteracy) to teach them the truths of the Christian faith. Touched by this teaching, they showed a desire to receive baptism. Father Augustine then made the decision to dedicate his entire life to their spiritual and material service.

Starting in 1926, he settled to live among them, sharing their daily life and their trials. For nearly forty years, he worked tirelessly for their human and spiritual emancipation, defending them against social discrimination and exclusion. He personally instructed and baptized more than 5,000 Dalits, becoming one of the greatest missionaries to this marginalized population in India.

During his lifetime, Father Augustine already enjoyed an immense reputation for holiness among the inhabitants of Ramapuram, across all castes and religions. The faithful came in large numbers to seek his prayers and blessings. Immediately after his death in 1973, his tomb at Saint Augustine's Church in Ramapuram became a highly frequented center of pilgrimage. The cause for beatification was officially opened at the diocesan level on August 11, 1987, conferring upon him the title of Servant of God. After an in-depth investigation into his life and virtues, the Positio was submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome in 1997. On June 22, 2004, Pope John Paul II signed the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, declaring him Venerable.

The process toward beatification concluded on December 19, 2005, when Pope Benedict XVI approved a miracle attributed to his intercession. This miracle concerns the scientifically inexplicable healing of a young boy suffering from a congenital foot malformation (clubfoot).

The beatification ceremony was celebrated on April 30, 2006, in Ramapuram, the very village where he was born, lived, died, and rests. The celebration was presided over by Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI, in the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio to India, Archbishop Pedro López Quintana, and Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI). His liturgical feast was set for October 16, the day of his birth into heaven.

The spirituality of Blessed Kunjachan was characterized by deep humility, a life of intense prayer, and absolute evangelical detachment. He spent long hours in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, drawing from it the strength for his daily ministry among the poorest.

His spiritual testament bears witness to his total self-emptying: « I possess nothing, neither landed property nor bank account... After my death, my funeral must be celebrated in the simplest manner. Since 1926, I have lived with the Harijan (Dalit) Christians. Even after my death, I wish to be with them. That is why my body must be buried where the Harijan Christians are buried. »

Today, he is venerated as the "apostle of the Dalits" and remains a model of pastoral compassion and preferential love for the excluded within the Church in India and throughout the world.