A former colleague anticipated that Father Earl Fernandes would be chosen to become a bishop someday and wasn’t surprised that Pope Francis has selected him to be the shepherd of the Diocese of Columbus.
“I felt it was just a matter of time before Father Fernandes would be given the honor of becoming a bishop,” Msgr. Frank Lane said. “I even thought when Bishop (Robert) Brennan was appointed bishop of Brooklyn that there was a strong possibility Father Fernandes might succeed him in Columbus.
“It’s always a surprise when a new bishop is selected, but that’s not so much the case with Father Fernandes because he has all the qualities one would want to see in a bishop. Also, he’s familiar with Ohio, having grown up in Toledo and spent 20 years as a priest in the Cincinnati archdiocese.”
Msgr. Lane, 82, lives in retirement in Cincinnati, where he was spiritual director of The Athenaeum of Ohio – Mount St. Mary’s Seminary of the West from 2010 to 2016. He hosts a weekly series on St. Gabriel Catholic Radio in Columbus and southern Ohio and is a former pastor in the Diocese of Columbus, taught at the Pontifical College Josephinum and served as a military chaplain.
Bishop-elect Fernandes was dean of the Cincinnati seminary from 2008-2016, then served on the staff of the Vatican’s apostolic nuncio in Washington from 2016 to 2019 before becoming pastor of Cincinnati St. Ignatius of Loyola Church, a position he will leave when he is ordained as a bishop on Tuesday, May 31.
“Archbishop (Dennis) Schnurr brought him back to Cincinnati because he thought St. Ignatius needed a problem-solver like Father Fernandes,” Msgr. Lane said. “It’s a big parish, with around 3,000 families and more than 1,000 students in its grade school, which is the largest in Ohio.
“Travelers from Columbus might have at least passed by St. Ignatius because it’s just off Interstate 74 at the North Bend Road exit in the Monfort Heights section of Cincinnati.
“When Father Fernandes came to the parish, it was going through all sorts of problems, which he was able to smooth over in a relatively short period. Now it’s a very going concern. It’s a big parish, and he had a big job to do, and he accomplished it.
“Father Fernandes will be taking on plenty of challenges in Columbus with the Real Presence Real Future initiative, which is similar to a parish realignment we’re going through here in Cincinnati, but I’m confident he will be up to the job,” Msgr. Lane said.
“Having worked alongside him for six years, I can tell you he’s a good man, extremely talented with an enormous capacity for work. He was very popular among the seminarians because of his grasp of theology and because he worked very quickly.
“As he said at his news conference in Columbus, he was known as ‘Father Speedy.’ He has more energy than just about anyone I’ve ever seen, but he does things well, not in a hurried manner. His ability, his sociability, his intelligence, the way he deals with people all combined to make him rise to the top.
“I’m sure that he’s going to be a very caring bishop, open to his priests and people, and will do a great job in Columbus. His youth also works in his favor. He may make mistakes as he gets used to his new role, but that’s part of being human, and he will learn and grow from any mistakes,” Msgr. Lane said.
“All in all, the pope’s selection of Father Fernandes is a great appointment for him and for Columbus.”
Father Steven Beseau, rector/president of the Josephinum, has known Father Fernandes for 17 years, since both of them were working on doctorates in Rome in 2005.
“He’s a theologian, a diplomat and a pastor,” Father Beseau said. “It’s very rare to find a priest with all three qualities.
“He’s also a man of deep faith, and he’s a connector, very good at connecting people. He’s continuously reaching out on the phone, setting up activities, getting people together in a very pastoral way.
“We’ve been good friends, especially in the six years since he hired me to teach at the Athenaeum. I appointed him to the Josephinum board, It made great sense to have him there because of the time he spent with the nuncio,” who also is the Josephinum’s chancellor, Father Beseau said. Father Fernandes will automatically become the college’s vice chancellor upon his ordination as bishop.
“The nuncio really came to rely on Father Fernandes in his three years in the nunciature. His duties included taking care of much of the nuncio’s correspondence and providing input for his homilies. He was not technically a part of the diplomatic corps, but he learned diplomacy by working closely with the nuncio,” Father Beseau said.
“He will be a jewel for the diocese. I’m familiar with many dioceses because the Josephinum draws students from throughout the nation, and this diocese I’ve been a part of since coming here in 2019 is vital and growing,” said Father Beseau, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas.