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raised IN FAITH The Early Life of Bishop-elect Fernandes BY JESSICA RINAUDO
Fernandes and his brother in 1974.
Bishop-elect Earl K. Fernandes, the son of immigrant parents from India, speaks about his childhood with reverence and a healthy dose of good humor. “My father came to the United States in January of 1970. The Vietnam War was on and 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 and they could pass their U.S. medical licensure exam from abroad,” said Bishop-elect Fernandes. “My father came to work at St. Charles Hospital in Toledo, which was run by the Sisters of Mercy. They gave him a place to stay, and after a few months, he could bring my mom and my brothers over. That was in March of 1970, and then in 1971, 72 and 73, my parents had three more boys.” He continued, “So we were five boys growing up together … in a little three-bedroom house. We went to St. Thomas Aquinas Church on the eastside of Toledo, right next to a Sun Oil refinery. Everyone in our neighborhood [was] working class. My father never let us tell anyone what he did for a living, even though some of them knew. He just 1 6 | THE CATHOLIC TE LEGRAPH
didn’t want that kind of class difference. And we lived pretty simply, and my parents were very devout people.” Because they were immigrants with no other family nearby, the Fernandeses had to rely on themselves. “My mother said, ‘You boys are going to have to work hard and pray hard and study hard.’” He continued, “Some kids, they’d go to the zoo for fun. We’d go to the zoo and have to write essays about the animals we saw at the zoo. So we’re all pretty intellectually driven, but we had just very, very strong bonds with the church and with our classmates in the school. And it really led to a kind of a lively childhood.” The Catholic faith instilled in them from early childhood was central to everything the Fernandes family did. “My parents were very devout, so we prayed the rosary every night as a family. Even before we could really read and write … our rosary concluded with the Angelus [and] the Litany of Lareto, which we had to memorize. And then one ‘Our Father’ [and] one ‘Hail Mary’ for peace in the
