Young Earl Fernandes was going to be a doctor. His father was a doctor. Three of his four brothers would become doctors. His life’s path was laid out before him.
Raised in Toledo, his Indian American family attended St Thomas Aquinas Church, prayed the Rosary and regularly went on pilgrimages to the Basilica and the National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation in Carey, Ohio. They were devout Catholics.
Earl became an altar boy at his church growing up. He felt an ease being around the church. His mother told him to work hard, pray hard and study hard. He received a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Toledo and was accepted into medical school at the University of Cincinnati.
For his third year of medical school, young Earl Fernandes got to study in Rome. While there, he visited St Peter’s Basilica. He remembers seeing an image of the Holy Spirit and upon arriving at St Peter’s tomb, he fell to his knees and knew God was calling him to be a priest.
He told his mother the news. She kissed his hand and said, “now when I die, I get to go straight to Heaven.”
At age 24, he contacted the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and entered the seminary. After receiving a doctorate degree from Alphonsian Academy in Rome, Fernandes was ordained a Catholic priest in Cincinnati on May 18, 2002.
Fast forward almost exactly twenty years…
On May 31, 2022, Father Earl Fernandes received his Holy Orders and was installed as the 13th Bishop of the Diocese of Columbus, the first bishop of Indian descent in the United States.
He took over a diocese that had and has real problems: falling church attendance, aging clergy, priest burnout, and serious financial issues among others.
By 2023, Bishop Fernandes made his way out into all twenty three counties in the diocese visiting church parishes, priests, staffs and schools to better help him with what he calls “authentic discernment.”
“I’m not interested in presiding over a slow twenty five year decline in the diocese of Columbus,” said Bishop Fernandes at the time. “I want to grow the church. Not for my glory but God’s glory.”
Because of the presence of the missionary priests, only 16 of the 32 parishes projected to be closed in the last three years came to fruition. One of the parishes saved was Our Lady of Peace on the north end. The bishop said a ‘Mass for Peace’ at OLP on a bitter cold January evening in 2026 to commemorate the parish’s eightieth anniversary.
Fernandes made the unpopular decision in 2022 to send a diocesan priest to the Newman Center at Ohio State University, which had been run by Paulist Fathers. Since then, young men there have been showing an interest in becoming diocesan priests and there has been an explosion of young people returning to the church. Sunday mass attendance is averaging 1200 students, one third of whom are actively engaged in the church. The bishop said mass on Ash Wednesday in 2025, and two thousand young people showed up.
Fernandes has grown the diocese to nearly 500,000 Catholics. Three years ago, there were 17 seminarians. Today – 43. He has ordained nine priests and seen an explosion in women’s interest in religious vocations within the diocese with 60 to 70 in discernment. And the church’s Hispanic population has spiked.
He credits the success to being intentional – simply asking young men if they would consider being a priest. Going peer to peer.
Bishop Fernandes walks with self-assuredness and a smile. His energy and words are inspiring. His presence in our community is a blessing from God.
Recently, the bishop lowered the Confirmation age within the diocese to the fourth grade level because of the many negative influences on our young people today. “Children need to be exposed to the awe and wonder of God at a much earlier age and recognize their inherent value and worth as a child of God,” says the bishop.
Fernandes is pushing for the passage of the Religious Workforce Protection Act in Congress to help fix immigration law in our country for foreign-born priests. As it stands now, the Columbus diocese is in danger of losing 21 priests and religious sisters which, if it happened, would create a great hardship.
“When we are divided, we don’t evangelize well,” says Fernandes.
To us, the lay person, the bishop recommends saying the Rosary, join a Bible study, attend Sunday mass and to receive the blessed sacrament. And begin a daily conversation with God by talking to Him as a friend.
At the 2026 Catholic Men’s Conference in Columbus, the bishop said mass and gave opening remarks. He spoke about the meek who are often referred to in the Bible. Meekness, he said, gets a bad rap. “Meekness invites His presence. It is self-restraint in the presence of anger.”
Wow. Mind blown!
Sources: www.catholicmensministry.com; Columbus Dioceses’s new Bishop-elect Earl Fernandes is first Indian-American Catholic bishop by Danae King and Ceili Doyle, Columbus Dispatch, April 2, 2022, www.dispatch.com; www.columbuscatholic.org; www.nuntiususa.org; Bishop Fernandes on vocations, the Latin Mass, Abp. Vigano and developing a prayer life by Jim Graves, The Catholic World Report, Aug 25, 2025, www.catholicworldreport.com; 2025 was a year of progress for diocese, The Catholic Times, Dec 30, 2025, www.catholictimescolumbus.org; Catholic Mens Conference, Feb 28, 2026, Kasich Center, Ohio State Fairgrounds; Columbus Mens Luncheon, November, 2025, St Patricks Church, Our Lady of Peace Church, Mass for Peace, Jan 2026; Featured picture is from my personal collection of the bishop saying mass at the conclusion to the 2026 Catholic Men’s Conference.