By Matters India Reporter
Vilakkannur, July 21, 2026: The Archdiocese of Tellicherry is mourning the death of Father Thomas Pathickal, the priest who first witnessed Christ’s face appearing on a sacred Host during Mass 13 years ago.
Father Pathickal died at 6:30 am on July 21 at St Joseph’s Hospital, Karuvanchal in Kerala’s Kannur district, where he was undergoing cancer treatment, according to a press note from the archdiocese. He was 73.
His funeral is scheduled at 10 am on July 24 at Christ the King Church in Vilakkannur where India’s only Vatican-recognized Euchristic miracle took place.
The archdiocesan statement said the funeral services are being arranged in the church, respecting the wishes of Father Pathickal, his family and the general public.
Father Pathickal was the parish priest of Vilakkannur, some 50 kilometers northeast of Kannur district, on November 15, 2013, when a visible image resembling the face of Jesus appeared on the consecrated Host.
The phenomenon immediately drew public attention with thousands of people flocking to the church the same day. As civil authorities struggled to control the crowd, the archdiocese stopped public veneration of the Host and took it to the archdiocesan headquarters two days later.
The Host was preserved, and the matter was submitted for examination through Church authorities. The Vilakkannur event underwent a long process of theological and scientific study.
Finally on May 31, 2025, the Vatican recognized the phenomenon as a miracle and installed the Host at Vilakkannur during a solemn celebration led by Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, Apostolic Nuncio to India.
Father Pathickal was the parish priest from May 15, 2011 to May 14, 2016.
He was born on April 16, 1953, at Kiliyanthra in Kannur district. He was ordained a priest in 1978 and began his priestly ministry as the assistant at St Joseph’s Church, Peravoor.
He had been on medical leave since May 9 this year.
(Photo: Christ The King Syro-Malabar Church Vilakkannur Facebook page)