09.07.1928-26.12.2021

Fr Thomas Vattakunnel left for his heavenly reward soon after celebrating his final Christmas. After a life of hectic activity lasting 93 years and a brief encounter with COVID-19, he breathed his last on 26 December at Christ Hall, Kozhikode. From 2013 onwards he had been taking rest in Christ Hall.

Fr. Thomas was born at Kanjirapally in Kottayam district on 9 July 1928 as the fourth among 12 siblings. After his Secondary Education, he joined the Jesuit Novitiate at Shembaganur in 1950. He had his Juniorate studies at Shembaganur itself and his Philosophy studies at De Nobili College, Pune. After graduating from the University College with Malayalam as main, he taught at St Mary’s High School, Madurai for his regency. After completing his theology studies at De Nobili College, Pune, he was ordained a priest on 24 March 1963 at Pune itself. He went to St Stanislaus, Hazaribagh for his Tertianship and made his final commitment in 1968 at St Joseph’s school, Kozhikode. Soon after, he went to St Berchman’s College, Changanacherry, to pursue PG studies in Malayalam.

Fr Thomas was interested in education and spent many years in various Jesuit institutions. He began at St Joseph’s High School, Thiruvananthapuram, teaching French and then moved to St Xavier’s College at Thumba and then to St Joseph’s High School, Kozhikode, teaching French. He returned to St Xavier’s College, Thumba as a lecturer in Malayalam in 1970 and continued till 1980, and also served as its Principal. He took a pastoral break to work as parish priest in the Catholic Mission at Ezhimala before moving to Paris to attend French Language Teacher’s Course. He continued in Paris teaching English at Marseilles Ecole de Province. On his return, he was assigned to Beschi College, Dindigul to teach Malayalam in the Common Juniorate. From 1986 to 1988, he was in Himachal Pradesh serving the Mission. After returning to the Province, he joined AKJM School, Kanjirapally as a teacher for a year and proceeded to Thenhipalam near Kozhikode as parish priest of Aquinas Church. He remained there from 1989 to 1996 and moved to Lady Immaculate Church, Ottapalam in 1999 and St Mary’s Church, Pariyaram in 2002. In between, he served as Director of Arnos Padiri Academy, Velur from 1996 to 1999. In 2003 he was transferred to Prasanthi, Pachilakad (Wayanad) as Minister-in-charge for four years and continued to stay there till 2013.

It was during his stay in Pachilakkad that I came to know Fr Thomas closely and personally. I found him a very genuine and affectionate person despite his occasional outbursts. Many people could experience his love and care, and he always had a special love for the poor. He arranged benefactors to support students from poor backgrounds to study nursing and other professional courses so that they could become self-reliant. He found support to build houses for many families. He lived closely with the real-life of the poor, and this made him compassionate to all. A second factor that made me admire Fr Thomas was his love for the soil and the earth. He loved farm work even when he was teaching in the school or college. His interest in caring for our common home led him to plant trees in abundance wherever he lived. He expected the same from others too and did not tolerate laziness or half-hearted work. He was equally committed to sharing the fruit of his labour with the other Jesuit communities and the poor in the neighbourhood.

What made Fr Thomas unique was his ability to combine his love for the earth and the poor with his academic pursuits. He had a passion for languages which made him fluent not only in Malayalam and English but also in Tamil, Sanskrit and French. Jesuits as well as others found him a multi-lingual scholar ever available for consultation. Even when he was weak and sickly, he found time to get the Jesuit supplement of  the Latin Missal translated into Malayalam, and he could see it in printed form before his final journey. He kept his passion for languages alive with his daily reading of the Bible in different languages.

Rev Fr Pedro Arrupe, the then Superior General, on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Fr Thomas’ Jesuit life in 2020, wrote to him: “Fr Thomas Vattakunnel, you have inspired many by your hard physical and intellectual work and your simple and disciplined life. As a pastor, you are tender-hearted and compassionate. You upheld values of discipline, hard work, honesty and transparency and were available to the Church and the Society. You are bold enough to speak the truth, to question and challenge and to speak against injustice wherever you are.” Fr Thomas leaves behind fond memories of his unique personality. May the Lord reward him.

Wilson Mulackal