Samineni Arulappa

Archbishop Samineni Arulappa (28 August 1924 – 13 February 2005), also known as S Arulappa, was an Indian Catholic clergyman who served as the Archbishop of Hyderabad from December 1971 through January 2000.

The youngest priest to be consecrated to such a high office, he was also the longest-serving Catholic archbishop in India.

He was also the first archbishop who had the honour of being consecrated by Pope Paul VI in Rome.

"Love and Serve" was his motto.

Arulappa was born on 28 August 1924 to Rajamma and Chinnaiah in Kilacheri in present day Tamil Nadu, then British India.

He was the last born in a family of four sisters, two of whom are nuns, and two brothers.

He was brought up in an atmosphere of strict discipline by his mother, who wanted to see her only son become a priest.

The Archbishop reminisces that her mother looked forward to the day when she could see him as a priest, but both his parents died before he was ordained a priest.

He was since supported by his brother Samineni Anthaiah.

Arulappa evinced keen interest in pursuing the vocation of priesthood and also assisted the priests as an altar boy during his childhood.

He was sent to the Kandy Pontifical College (known as the Papal Seminary) in Kandy, Ceylon, to pursue theological studies.

The Papal Seminary awarded Arulappa licentiate degrees in philosophy and theology (L. Ph. & L. Th.) on successfully completing his studies there.

Arulappa was ordained as a priest on 6 May 1950 by Bishop Ignatius Glennie, S.J., the then Bishop of Trincomalee.

He joined the faculty of the Archdiocesan Minor & Major Seminaries in Madras and taught Latin and philosophy besides being the rector of the seminary.

Arulappa also served as a parish priest in two parishes and was principal of St. Joseph's Anglo-Indian Boys' High School in Madras.

He was sent to Oxford University, the oldest university in England, for post-graduate studies in public and social administration.

Later, Arulappa was appointed the rector of Christ Hall Seminary, a philosophate in Karumathur in Madurai, and served as its rector.

G. Joseph Mark was the fifth bishop of Hyderabad and later became archbishop when the diocese of Hyderabad was elevated to an archdiocese on 19 September 1953.

With his death on 28 February 1971, the office of the archbishop fell vacant.

Fr. S. Arulappa of the archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore was brought in and nominated to the archbishopric of Hyderabad.

On 6 December 1971, he was appointed the archbishop of Hyderabad.

Arulappa recollected that on 12 December 1971, he received a letter from the Apostolic Nunciature stating that he had been nominated as the archbishop of Hyderabad and all that he could do was just kneel down and pray like never before.

When the Archbishop took over the reins of the archdiocese, there were 18 parishes.

At the time of his retirement, there were 60 parishes, which speaks about the work he undertook.

About 85 priests were ordained in the archdiocese during his archbishopric.

Altogether, 37 religious congregations were invited to work in the archdiocese.

Apart from the formation of the Hyderabad Archdiocese Education Society (HAES), 35 high schools and 14 junior and degree colleges were opened.

He was consecrated principally by Pope Paul VI and co-consecrators Cardinals Alfrink and Conway on 13 February 1972 at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

He was installed as the archbishop of Hyderabad on 19 March 1972 in the All Saints' School Grounds in Abids, Hyderabad.

In 1974, the Archbishop visited Calcutta for a CBCI meeting and proceeded to invite Blessed Mother Teresa to work in the archdiocese of Hyderabad.

In 1978, the Missionaries of Charity started arriving in Secunderabad, and on 15 August 1978, the work of the Missionaries of Charity was inaugurated.

In January 1979, when Blessed Mother Teresa arrived in Hyderabad for the first time, the Archbishop was there to receive her and later took her to the residence of the then-Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Dr. Marri Chenna Reddy, who offered a part of a hospital in new Bhoiguda in Secunderabad for establishing a home for the dying destitute.

During the archbishopric of Arulappa, the region of Andhra Pradesh saw the erection of five new dioceses.

Archbishop Arulappa did maintain good relations with the government.

But when it came to laxity on the part of the government, he used to take them to task through the media.

Secunderabad hosts the Presidents of India annually.

Rashtrapati Nilayam in Secunderabad is home to the Presidents during summers.

The Archbishop used to call on them during the President's sojourn to Secunderabad.

In 1982, President Giani Zail Singh visited St. Mary's Church in Secunderabad on invitation by the Archbishop.

The Archbishop was known for his secular outlook.