Fr. Emmanuel Kallarackal, C.S.C., Vicar General and First Assistant, died unexpectedly and suddenly on the evening of Saturday, 29 August, following the completion of his personal annual retreat in Ireland.

Fr. Kallarackal’s mortal remains were transported back to Agartala, Tripura, in India, where, as a member of the Province of North East India, he had served many years as a missionary.

Once his body arrived to the Provincial House on Sunday, 6 September, a prayer service was held that brought together members of Fr. Kallarackal’s family and many Holy Cross religious, including Br. Paul Bednarczyk, C.S.C., Superior General, His Eminence Patrick Cardinal D’Rozario, C.S.C., Archbishop Emeritus of Dhaka, Most Rev. Lumen Monteiro, C.S.C., Bishop of the Diocese of Agartala, and all four Provincials from India, Fr. KJ Abraham, C.S.C., of the Province of North East India, Fr. Lawrence D’Almeida, C.S.C., of the Province of South India, Fr. Gaspar Selvaraj, C.S.C., of the Province of Tamil Nadu, and Br. PJ Santhosh, C.S.C., of the Saint André Province.

Following a time of public viewing, which saw many of Fr. Kallarackal’s friends, former colleagues and students come to pay their respects, Fr. Abraham presided at a Requiem Mass held at the Provincial House.

On Monday morning, 7 September, the Funeral Mass was held on the campus of Holy Cross School, Agartala, where Fr. Kallarackal had served as principal from 1997-2003 and where he launched Holy Cross College in 2009. Bishop Lumen was the principal celebrant, and Fr. Abraham offered the homily.

After Holy Communion, several people offered words of remembrance, beginning with Br. Bednarczyk, who, among other qualities, recalled the Vicar General’s missionary zeal and his joy at being a Holy Cross religious and priest. A solemn procession then led the body of Fr. Kallackaral to the community cemetery, where Cardinal Patrick led the Final Commendation and Farewell and Fr. Abraham offered the final prayers before Fr. Kallarackal was laid to rest.

A member of the Province of North East India, Fr. Kallackaral came from Kerala in Southern India, where he was born on 29 November 1956. He was the seventh of the eight children of Mr. Joseph and Mrs. Annakutty. He did his primary schooling at St. Mary’s LP School, Thennathoor, and his secondary schooling at St. Mary’s High School, Kodikulam.

With a desire to be a missionary from a young age, he joined the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1972 at Holy Cross Students’ Home in Bengaluru. He entered the Holy Cross Novitiate in Yercaud, making his First Profession of Vows on 27 May 1978. Fr. Kallackaral then went to Holy Cross Seminary in Pune, where he completed his theological studies at Jnana Deepa. He professed his Perpetual Vows on 29 July 1983 and was ordained a priest on 8 May 1984.

Fr. Kallackaral’s first assignment was to the missions in Northeast India, when in 1984, he was assigned as Vice Principal of Holy Cross School Agartala in Tripura. In 1987, he returned to his home state of Kerala, where for seven years he energetically called forth and helped form other young missionaries for Holy Cross, first as Vocation Promoter and then as Director of Holy Cross Students’ Home in Aymanam.

Fr. Kallackaral then began the first of two stints of studies at Fordham University in New York in the United States. In 1996, he obtained a Religious Education/Counselling Advanced Post-Master’s Diploma. Fr. Kallackaral then returned to Holy Cross School Agartala, where he began his service as Student Counsellor in 1996, later becoming Principal in 1997, a position he held until 2003.

Fr. Kallackaral returned to Fordham University from 2003 to 2008, where he completed a PhD in Religious Education. His dissertation topic was “Peace Education in Northeast India: NESNIM as a Model of Peace Education in Multi-Ethnic Settings”.

After graduating, Fr. Kallackaral returned to Agartala, where he was charged with founding Holy Cross College, Agartala, which became the first post-secondary educational institution for Holy Cross in India in 2009. As the College’s first Principal, he led the College for 10 years with vision, determination, and a deep commitment to young people. Fr. Kallackaral helped build an institution that has since opened new avenues of higher education for future generations of students. In 2015, he received the “Best Principals of India 2015” Award from the All India Association of Christian Higher Education.

During those years, Fr. Kallackaral also served for a year and a half as Provincial of the Province of North East India from November 2010 to May 2012.

After stepping down as Principal and President of Holy Cross College in 2019, Fr. Kallackaral took a sabbatical. With a continuing missionary zeal, he went to Cathedral High School in Indianapolis in the United States as School Chaplain at in 2021. In 2022, while he was serving as its Moderator, the General Chapter elected him to the General Council.

As the Vicar General and First Assistant of the Congregation, Fr. Kallackaral resided at the Holy Cross Generalate in Rome. Among other responsibilities, he was Chair of the Congregation’s Mission Commission. In that capacity, he chaired the Task Force for Papua New Guinea, which oversaw the discernment, preparations, training, and establishment of the Congregation’s new Holy Family Mission in Bougainville. Fr. Kallackaral also oversaw the Congregation’s extraordinary Year of Mission from 28 April 2025 to 28 April 2026, designed to renew the missionary fervor of Holy Cross religious and their mission partners to bring “Hope Beyond Borders”. He also was President of the Association of Notre-Dame de Sainte-Croix, which oversees the Shrine of Blessed Basile Moreau in Le Mans, France.