CINCINNATI – When Bishop-elect Earl Fernandes walks out the door for the final time as pastor of St. Ignatius of Loyola Church on Cincinnati’s west side later this month, the parish will feel profound loss.
At the same time, parishioners and staff members interviewed by The Catholic Times said they’ll be joyful knowing their beloved pastor will share his gifts and talents with an entire diocese in Columbus after he is installed and ordained on Tuesday, May 31 at Westerville St. Paul Church.
In fewer than three years at St. Ignatius, Father Fernandes galvanized a parish that was left reeling from a situation that led to the previous pastor’s removal in 2019. He was assigned there after serving for three years in Washington, D.C., with the Vatican’s Apostolic Nunciature, the equivalent of a foreign embassy.
“He came in as a pastor after kind of a difficult year,” said Kevin Vance, the parish school’s principal. “And I think one of the best things he did just overall was bring some calmness and stability. He took time to get to know all of us. … He was pretty diligent about touching base with everybody.
“But I think the best thing he did was just to listen at first.”
The difficulty of being thrust into such a stressful environment in fall 2019 was compounded several months later when the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closing of churches from mid-March to late May 2020.
During those 2 1/2 months, Father Fernandes could have only limited contact with his flock, mostly through a daily reflections video posted on social media, the celebration of Mass via livestream and calls and emails. And yet the people sensed that he had an almost otherworldly ability to know where he was most needed – to be in the right place at the right time.
Several parishioners recalled how Father Fernandes somehow found a way, seemingly in the blink of an eye, to be at the bedside of friends or relatives who were sick or dying in the hospital. That was a feat in itself during the COVID crisis, when most health-care facilities were restricting or even banning visits by family members and clergy.
Parish member Joe Elsen recounted an example of Father Fernandes’ ability to be where he’s needed when Elsen’s sister was hospitalized.
“I walked out of the door of the ICU to call up here to the office to see if a priest could come down, and as I’m on the phone trying to get the number, the doors pop open to the ICU and in comes Father Earl just flying in like he always does,” Elsen said. “You have to have gym shoes on if you’re going to walk with him.
“I walked up to him, and I asked him if he had time. And he could have said call the office to get someone down here. He said, ‘No, I have time.’ And he walked into the room. He spent 45 minutes, he prayed with us, and just the presence he brought into the room was peaceful. I don’t want to say joyous, but it was comforting, and it was just one of those experiences I’ll never forget.”
Three months later, Elsen called and left a message saying his father was passing away. Twenty minutes later, Father Fernandes arrived at the nursing home. The staff would not let him in because of pandemic lockdowns, but he calmly explained that he needed to administer the last rites and was finally given permission to access the room.
“I don’t know how he does it,” Elsen said. “Everybody has the same stories. He prayed with my dad, and my dad’s whole demeanor changed. My dad was passing away, but it was beautiful.”
Elsen also mentioned the priest’s accessibility to meet or talk with them whenever they reached out.
“He knows everyone, and when you meet him he wants to know everything about you,” Elsen said. “He’s just that way with everyone. It’s just who he is. He’s a great shepherd, and he’s going to be great for Columbus. And he’s going to be great for whoever, wherever.”
Vance, who oversees the largest Catholic elementary in Ohio with more than 1,100 students in pre-K through eighth grade, emphasized Father Fernandes’ support for education and his strong presence among the children. One of the significant moves that Father Fernandes made at the school was instituting the Catechism of the Good Shepherd religious education program.
“I will say that I’ve never met a priest that I have felt that is genuinely 100% involved and concerned about the sacramental life of children and adults,” Vance said. “He is all in to make sure people have the sacraments.
“So he called on individual families and kids in the school if they hadn’t been baptized or hadn’t had their First Communion or their confirmation and worked with the staff to get them those sacraments.
“I genuinely feel he is a man committed to getting people to Christ.”
What stands out the most in the eyes of everyone interviewed at the parish is his love for the priesthood, his enthusiasm and boundless energy, his love for celebrating Mass and the sacraments, and his concern for the sanctification of souls.
Parishioner Jennifer Marshall first encountered Father Fernandes in 2016 when she attended a Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Cincinnati, where he assisted while serving as a seminary professor and dean of students at Mount St. Mary Seminary of the West.
“I didn’t know him, but he changed my whole perception of my view on the Mass just from one Mass,” said Marshall, a homeschooling mother of eight. “When he held up the Eucharist, the body of Christ, at the consecration, he was smiling with this joy that I’ve never seen in a priest before – like he’s actually looking at the body of Christ. It was literally like the full person of Jesus standing in front of him. It just changed something inside of me after that.”
Three years later, Father Fernandes was assigned to her parish, St. Ignatius, and she was elated.
“But my fondest memories of him are him being with my dad when he passed away during the pandemic,” she said. “He was at his bedside a couple of days before, and I’ve been at a few bedsides with relatives who’ve passed and have seen the priests that are there, and this was different.
“He sang with my dad, he prayed with him, and my dad couldn’t communicate, but he was aware. And he was there for like two hours, and it was just the best experience to watch and be there and pray with him.”
Also during the pandemic, Father Fernandes arranged for Marshall’s son to receive First Holy Communion in a private ceremony, and then later in the pandemic her daughter received First Communion and the sacrament of reconciliation.
“It just shows a lot about him as a priest and how much he cares about the family and children and everyone from all ages,” she said. “There’s just a holiness just radiates from him. My children are going to miss him, but I’ve been saying that he’s not going to be here long, because when you meet him and you’re around him, you know he’s got a big future.”
On the day of The Catholic Times’ visit, he celebrated Mass, sat down for a lengthy interview and then scurried back to the church in his characteristic fast-paced style to help hear the confessions of students from one of the school classes. The sacrament of reconciliation is made available daily at the parish.
At Mass, parishioners have found his homilies enlightening, his reverence striking and his joy at the consecration inspiring.
Kate Rewwer, whom Father Fernandes hired in 2021 after meeting her at Mass to replace the parish’s retiring nurse, offered similar stories of the priest dropping everything to minister to a dying person, even those who were not parishioners or had been away from the Church.
“If you asked me to sum up what I think he considers the most important part of what he does, it would be aiding in the salvation of souls,” she said.
She and her husband were members of another parish before Father Fernandes arrived, but she was drawn to St. Ignatius by the frequent availability of confessions and by listening to his homilies at daily Mass as she stopped there on her way to work at her previous job as a clinical nurse.
She also said she took to heart his encouragement to incorporate fasting into her prayer life, which he turned into a parish Lenten fasting challenge this year that attracted more than 30 people.
“And it was incredible, the fruits that came from that that people have emailed about, and I said it’s all from Father over a year ago from something I was discussing with him,” she said. “Fasting is something you don’t hear very often.”
Parish staff members mentioned his pastoral style, describing how he provides guidance and support while having faith in them to do their jobs.
“He’s not a micromanager, which I appreciate,” said Brad Macke, the director of adult faith formation and outreach. “Sometimes I’ll ask, ‘What do you think by this, Father,’ and he throws the question back into our lap a lot as a staff: ‘Here are the principles, here are the initiatives, now run with it. Come to me for questions.’ But ‘run with it’ has been his leadership style.”
Macke had known Father Fernandes previously while working as a theology teacher and campus minister at a Catholic high school before the St. Ignatius pastor asked him to join the parish staff. The bishop-to-be’s qualities that stand out to Macke are his wisdom and his humility.
“A lot of what I have learned from him I can’t even articulate consciously,” Macke said. “As intelligent as he is, (it’s) knowing how to speak to different people in different ways, to adapt himself to how this person or that person can receive the Gospel or receive his message is another thing.
“It is very real for people because Jesus is very real to him. And so he’s trying to communicate a relationship, which it’s been said the Gospel is like a swimming pool that’s shallow enough for a baby and deep enough for an elephant. And I think Father knows how to live that.
“It’s not overpowering. It’s not overbearing. He doesn’t wear his degrees on his sleeve. He’s not drawing attention to that. He’s very aware that those things are a gift he has received.
“If we can give a message to the people of Columbus, we’re praying for Father Fernandes and them as they make the transition, and they’d better be praying for us as we’re losing Father Fernandes. I’m sure the Lord will take care of us, but there’s a loss, of course.”
Since the announcement on April 2 of Father Fernandes’ selection to be the bishop of Columbus, his busy schedule has become even more hectic, making frequent visits to Ohio’s capital city to engage in preparations for his new role. But that hasn’t stopped him from offering morning Mass at St. Ignatius and hearing confessions afterward before jumping into his car for the two-hour drive north.
“I’m not sure that he ever takes a day off,” said Jeromy Alt, a parish ministry leader who is involved with the Knights of Columbus, which has grown in membership with Father Fernandes’ encouragement.
“I hear so many things that I know of where if somebody called, he was there. He was at the hospital. He was at a home, whatever people needed. I know lots of stories of people saying he showed up at the hospital and they’re not sure how he even knew.
“I think the people in Columbus are going to love him.”