{"id":3760,"date":"2022-04-02T20:12:14","date_gmt":"2022-04-02T20:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linksus.net\/pope-francis-names-rev-earl-fernandes-new-catholic-bishop-of-columbus-the-columbus-dispatch\/"},"modified":"2022-04-02T20:12:14","modified_gmt":"2022-04-02T20:12:14","slug":"pope-francis-names-rev-earl-fernandes-new-catholic-bishop-of-columbus-the-columbus-dispatch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/2022\/04\/02\/pope-francis-names-rev-earl-fernandes-new-catholic-bishop-of-columbus-the-columbus-dispatch\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis names Rev. Earl Fernandes new Catholic bishop of Columbus – The Columbus Dispatch"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus<\/a>\u00a0has a new bishop \u2014 the\u00a0first person of color in that role and the Catholic Church’s first Indian-American bishop.\u00a0
On Saturday morning, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had named the\u00a0Rev.\u00a0Earl Fernandes, now a priest in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati,\u00a0<\/a>as the 13th bishop of the Diocese of Columbus.
What it means for the Columbus diocese:<\/strong>Catholic Bishop Robert Brennan leaving for Brooklyn<\/a>
“This is the land of opportunity,” Fernandes\u00a0said. “There is a great deal of pride (in being the\u00a0first Indian-American bishop).”
The Ohio\u00a0native\u00a0is also the first person of color to lead the Columbus Diocese, and the first Indian-American to be named a Catholic Bishop,\u00a0Deacon Thomas Berg, diocesan chancellor, confirmed.
The fourth of five sons born to Indian immigrants in Toledo, Fernandes remembers celebrating the U.S. bicentennial on July 4, 1976, holding signs with his brothers. His father, who memorized the Constitution before taking his citizenship test,\u00a0had fashioned together his own version of the\u00a0Liberty Bell.
Fernandes, 49, a self-described “young and happy priest,” will be ordained a bishop and installed as leader of the Columbus Diocese on May 31.
Bittersweet goodbye:<\/strong>Columbus Catholic Bishop Robert Brennan gives last Masses before departing for Brooklyn<\/a>
News of Father Fernandes’ appointment to bishop comes months after Pope Francis reassigned former Columbus Bishop Robert Brennan<\/a> to lead the Diocese of Brooklyn in September. Brennan\u00a0said his last Masses locally on Nov. 21<\/a>\u00a0after having served in Columbus for approximately two and a half years.
Humility guides Father Fernandes.
It’s the lesson his parents imparted on him, growing up poor in a\u00a0neighborhood of\u00a0Toledo.\u00a0And it’s the moral imperative\u00a0that has followed his\u00a0spiritual journey and career, he said.
Before becoming\u00a0pastor at\u00a0St. Ignatius of Loyola Church<\/a> in Cincinnati, Fernandes\u00a0attended the University of Toledo, where he got a bachelor’s degree in biology, before attending the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
In medical school \u2014 he comes from a family of doctors and teachers \u2014\u00a0Fernandes\u00a0realized he wanted to be a priest. He has a\u00a0doctorate in moral theology from the Alphonsian Academy in Rome, Italy.
Bishop Brennan:<\/strong>Respect for human dignity must be at heart of actions, moral principles<\/a>
Before serving as pastor at St. Ignatius, Fernandes served from 2016 to 2019 on the staff\u00a0of the Apostolic Nunciature<\/a>, the offices of the Pope’s representative to the United States, in Washington
While living in Washington, the white supremacist\u00a0“Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that left one dead and 35 injured, was an eye-opening experience for Fernandes.
“I see myself as a man, a human man, made in the image of God, and every person I see as a brother and sister,” Fernandes said.\u00a0“We don’t have to use violence to achieve peace.”
Violence and hatred diminish a person’s soul, the bishop-elect said, and he practices affirmation not diminishment. He said he knows what it means to encounter prejudice firsthand.
“You don’t let other people dictate your life and beat you down,” the bishop-elect\u00a0said, recalling times where he had been accused of stealing, had mud thrown at him or been passed over for jobs in the Catholic Church.
That adversity has shaped Fernandes’ own empathy, and he said he is thrilled\u00a0to meet and work with the people throughout\u00a0Greater Columbus and to get to know the region’s\u00a0diverse population.
As a priest first ordained in\u00a0the Archdiocese of Cincinnati on May 18, 2002, Fernandes was a parochial vicar at Holy Angels Church and taught religion at Lehman Catholic High School, a coeducational school\u00a0in Sidney, Shelby County, from 2002 to 2004.
That experience in rural Ohio has guided Fernandes’ commitment to serve as a bishop for all 23 counties within the Diocese of Columbus, which includes a large majority of rural areas and farmland beyond Columbus.
“I’m not just here for the city folk,” he said.
Nicknamed “Father Speedy” by his parishioners in Cincinnati for his fast-walking and\u00a0talking, Fernandes is committed to efficiency when it comes to prioritizing goals for the Columbus Diocese.
He referenced Pope Francis’ desire to create a synodal church, or a church that walks together, listens and discerns.
“It’s not so much a program for social and political reform but for evangelizing \u2014 of bringing the joy of The Gospel to every level of culture and to every heart,” Fernandes said.
Real Presence, Real Future:<\/strong>‘Hallmark’ of his time as bishop, Brennan hopes diocese reorientation continues without him<\/a>
One of the bishop-elect’s first orders of business will be to study Real Presence, Real Future<\/a>, the draft plans to restructure parishes within the diocese amid declines in attendance and a priest shortage throughout the Catholic Church.
Fernandes sees his appointment as an opportunity to create a\u00a0missionary-oriented diocese, adding that the Catholic hierarchy can’t just be seen as bureaucrats lounging in air-conditioned offices.
“We need to be spiritual entrepreneurs,” he said. “We need to help everybody live their vocations and see Christianity not just as a set\u00a0of rules, but a way of life.”
Before Fernandes was named bishop,\u00a0Monsignor Stephan J. Moloney<\/a>, the vicar general of the Columbus Diocese under three bishops, had been serving as the interim leader\u00a0\u2014\u00a0called the diocesan administrator \u2014\u00a0since December.
\u201cToday\u2019s news is a joy-filled moment for all of us here in the Diocese of Columbus,\u201d said Moloney. “We know and trust that Bishop-elect Fernandes will be a wonderful, deeply caring shepherd for all of us here in the Diocese of Columbus, and I know he will find the warmest of welcomes from his new diocesan family.\u201d
Former Columbus Bishop Brennan’s departure marked the first time in recent history that the diocese appointed an administrator instead of having bishops serve until their successor was installed.
The two bishops who served the Columbus Diocese prior to Brennan \u2013 Bishop Frederick Campbell<\/a> and Bishop James Griffin \u2013 both retired from the job and served until the installation of the next bishop, said Deacon Berg.
Brennan, now bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn, also applauded the announcement.
\u201cI couldn’t be happier for him and the Church in Columbus,” Brennan said. “In my time in Ohio, I came to know Bishop-elect Fernandes as a neighbor and through his service on the Board of the Pontifical College Josephinum.\u00a0He will bring his many talents, a deep faith and a genuine love for the Lord to a Church that is vibrant with that same love for the Lord.”
cdoyle@dispatch.com<\/em><\/a>
@cadoyle_18<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus\u00a0has a new bishop \u2014 the\u00a0first person of color in that role and the Catholic Church’s first Indian-American bishop.\u00a0On Saturday morning, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had named the\u00a0Rev.\u00a0Earl Fernandes, now a priest in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati,\u00a0as the 13th bishop of the Diocese of Columbus.What it means for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":869,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3760"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/869"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3760\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}