The historic ordination and installation of Bishop-elect Earl Fernandes is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 31 at Westerville St. Paul Church, the Diocese of Columbus announced Friday.
Bishop-elect Fernandes, 49, a priest in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, will become the first Roman Catholic Indian-American bishop and the youngest bishop to currently lead a diocese. He was born in Toledo, but his parents emigrated from India in 1970.
The ordination Mass and installation will be preceded by Solemn Vespers at 7 p.m. Monday, May 30 at Columbus St. Andrew Church and followed by a liturgy at Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral on Wednesday, June 1.
All events are ticketed and by invitation only, but they will be livestreamed. More details will be announced in the coming weeks.
Pope Francis named Bishop-elect Fernandes the 13th bishop of Columbus on Saturday, April 2, the 17th anniversary of Pope St. John Paul II’s death. He replaces Bishop Robert Brennan, who presided over the diocese for 2 ½ years before being appointed the bishop of Brooklyn, New York, last fall.
The ordination and installation are being held at St. Paul Church to accommodate the significant numbers of bishops, clergy, religious and guests expected to attend the ceremonies, which have historically taken place at what is considered the bishop’s church, St. Joseph Cathedral. St. Paul, completed in 2011, is much larger than the cathedral with seating for 1,400.
The incoming bishop has served in various capacities during his 20 years as a priest. He has spent the past three years as the pastor of St. Ignatius of Loyola Church in Cincinnati.
Prior to his current pastorate, he was assigned to the staff of the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C., where he worked for 3½ years as part of the Vatican’s diplomatic mission to the United States.
From 2008 to 2016, he was the dean of the Athenaeum of Ohio/Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati and a professor of moral theology. During that period, he was assigned to Guardian Angels Church in Cincinnati as a weekend assistant from 2008 to 2014 and as the administrator of Sacred Heart Church in Cincinnati from 2014 to 2016.
Bishop-elect Fernandes’ first assignment as a priest after he was ordained in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati on May 18, 2002 was as a parochial vicar at Holy Angels Church in Sidney and a religion teacher at Lehman Catholic High School until 2004. He was then sent for additional studies in Rome, where he received a doctorate in moral theology from the Alphonsian Academy.
He is familiar with the Diocese of Columbus as a member of the Board of Trustees at the Pontifical College Josephinum. One of his four brothers is a physician at Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and several relatives are students at Ohio State.
