- 31 August, 2026
AGARTALA, August 31, 2026: Fr Emmanuel Kallarackal, C.S.C., First Assistant and Vicar General of the Congregation of Holy Cross, died in Ireland on August 29 following a heart attack. He was a member of the North East India Province and had served the international Congregation in education, formation, vocation ministry, pastoral ministry and leadership.
The news of his death was shared by Fr K.J. Abraham, C.S.C., Provincial of the North East India Province, who expressed deep sorrow over the loss of the senior Holy Cross priest and leader.
According to information released by the Province, Fr Emmanuel's mortal remains are expected to be brought to Agartala for the funeral. Details of the funeral and final rites are yet to be announced.
Fr Emmanuel's death brings to a close a ministry that spanned several decades and continents, taking him from educational institutions and formation houses in India to pastoral ministry in the United States and, in his final years, to the Generalate of the Congregation of Holy Cross in Rome.
A member of the North East India Province, Fr Emmanuel made a significant contribution to the development of Holy Cross educational institutions in Tripura. He served as Vice Principal of Holy Cross School, Agartala, from 1984 to 1987 and later returned to the institution as Principal, a position he held from 1997 to 2003.
In 2009, he became the founding Principal of Holy Cross College, Agartala, and led the institution through its formative years until 2019. Under his leadership, the college moved steadily towards establishing its own permanent infrastructure.
In 2013, Fr Emmanuel welcomed guests at the blessing and inauguration of the first phase of the college's permanent campus. The institution, which had initially functioned using facilities made available by Holy Cross School, was then described by the Congregation as Tripura's only Catholic English-medium college.
His ministry, however, extended well beyond the field of education. Over the years, he served as Vocation Facilitator and later as Director of Formation in Aymanam, Kerala, accompanying young men discerning and preparing for religious life and priesthood.
He also served as Provincial of the North East India Province, bringing his experience in education, formation, vocation animation and pastoral ministry to the leadership of the Province.
The 2022 General Chapter of the Congregation of Holy Cross elected Fr Emmanuel as First Assistant to the Superior General. By virtue of that office, he also served as Vicar General of the Congregation and joined the General Council at the Holy Cross Generalate in Rome.
As First Assistant and Vicar General, he was entrusted with responsibilities connected with the Congregation's Mission and Ministries portfolio, including its commitment to justice, peace and the integrity of creation. In 2024, he shared a new Holy Cross prayer focusing on these concerns with members of the Congregation around the world.
His responsibilities also brought him into direct contact with the Congregation's missionary expansion. In August 2024, Fr Emmanuel presided at and preached during the commissioning Mass for eight Holy Cross missionaries who were beginning their ministry in the Holy Family Mission in the Diocese of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea.
Even while serving in international leadership, he continued to show interest in the Church's wider missionary and pastoral initiatives. In February 2026, during a visit to Assisi, he visited the office promoting the evangelisation mission associated with St Carlo Acutis and received a relic of the young saint for St Louis Church, Dahisar.
Before his election to the General Council, Fr Emmanuel had also ministered in the United States, serving as School Chaplain at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis and assisting with sacramental ministry at St Joan of Arc Parish.
A scholar as well as an educator and religious leader, Fr Emmanuel held undergraduate degrees in Philosophy and Theology, a master's degree in English Literature from Madras University and a doctorate in Religious Education from Fordham University in New York.
His contribution to education was recognised nationally in 2015 when he received the Best Principals of India 2015 award from the All India Association of Christian Higher Education.
From classrooms and college campuses in India to formation houses, parishes, missionary communities and the international leadership of the Congregation of Holy Cross, Fr Emmanuel's priestly and religious ministry reflected the wide range of the Congregation's mission.
His final years of service were devoted to the wider Congregation from Rome, where, as Vicar General and First Assistant, he helped guide its mission and ministries across different parts of the world.
Fr Emmanuel's passing has brought grief to the Holy Cross family in India and abroad, particularly in the North East India Province and the institutions and communities where he served over the years.
Further details regarding the arrival of his mortal remains in Agartala and the funeral arrangements are awaited.
By Catholic Connect Reporter
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