CELEBRATING
Bishop-Elect Earl Fernandes An Exclusive Interview with the Next Bishop of the Diocese of Columbus BY JESSICA RINAUDO
of Toledo, right next to a Sun Oil refinery. … My father never let us tell anyone what he did for a living. And we lived pretty simply, and my parents were very devout people.”
On the morning of April 2, the faithful of Ohio woke to a surprise: Father Earl K. Fernandes, a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, was designated by Pope Francis as Bishop-elect of the Diocese of Columbus. Although many in southwestern Ohio are sad to say goodbye to Bishop-elect Fernandes, the overwhelming responses expressed great joy for him. In a special interview with The Catholic Telegraph, the man known for always smiling and radiating the joy of Christ shone while he spoke about his early life as a child of immigrant parents, who instilled the Catholic faith from a young age. “My parents and brothers are immigrants from India. My father came to the United States in January 1970. The Vietnam War was on. There was a shortage of physicians in this country because of the war, and so green cards were being granted to people from India, Philippines, Pakistan because they spoke English,” said Bishop-elect Fernandes. “We went to St. Thomas Aquinas Church on the eastside 8 | THE CATHOLIC TE LEG RAPH
His parents passed on their faith to their children through consistent prayer, including nightly family rosaries that concluded with the Angelus, as well as prayers for world peace, the souls in purgatory and the family’s intentions. Bishop-elect Fernandes spoke of his childhood with both solemnity and humor, “We’d have to kneel there on our floor and our knees would hurt. And we tried to say our Hail Mary really fast, and if my dad couldn’t understand us, he would say, ‘Repeat.’ If he said repeat three times, he’d take off a slipper and [wave it at us].” As he grew, the Fernandes family remained close to their church. Bishop-elect Fernandes laughed as he recalled, “When I got to be in eighth grade, my classmates and I tried to predict what we’d be in 50 years and my classmates predicted I’d be the first American pope!” He felt tugs toward a religious vocation throughout his young adulthood, talking to vocations directors throughout high school and college. While studying in Manchester, England, Fernandes made his first trip to Rome. “Just before Christmas I was in Rome, and I remember walking into St. Peter’s Basilica for the first time. I remember how quickly my heart started to beat…. And I came to the tomb of St. Peter. And I fell to my knees, and
