Thomas Fernando was an Indian Roman Catholic bishop.
Thomas Fernando was an Indian Roman Catholic bishop.
Fernando was born on 9 May 1913 in Idinthakarai, a coastal village Tirunelveli district and a Catholic parish of the Diocese of Tuticorin.
He was ordained a priest for the diocese of Tuticorin on 18 March 1939. [1] After his higher studies in theology, Indian philosophy and canon law in Rome, [2] he was appointed coadjutor bishop of Tuticorin on 25 June 1950 and ordained bishop on 1 October 1950. He succeeded Bishop Francis Tiburtius Roche on 26 June 1953, as the second bishop of the diocese of Tuticorin. After twenty years of episcopal ministry in the diocese of Tuticorin, on 23 November 1970, he was transferred as bishop to the diocese of Tiruchirapalli. [3]
He participated in all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council. [4] Inspired by the spirit of the council, he became the forerunner in implementing its teachings in Tamil Nadu, by reforming liturgical and para-liturgical celebrations. [5] He translated Latin liturgical texts into Tamil language. He promoted catechism, evangelization, liturgy, social communication, Tamil literature, culture and inter-religious dialogue. [6] As bishop he founded Kalai Kaveri college for music to promote Catholic faith through fine arts. [7] He established the congregation of the Sacred Heart Sisters, initially to take care of St Joseph Charity Home in Adaikalapuram, a diocesan rite congregation on 19 December 1954 to undertake mission work in the Tuticorin diocese. [8] As bishop Tirichirapalli, he felt the need of the female missionary collaboraters, He founded a congregation of St Thomas Catechetical Sisters in Tirichirapalli. [9] He is hailed for helping Tamil poet Kannadasan write Yesu Kaviyam. [10] After 56 years as a bishop, he died on 4 July 2006. [11]
The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, also known as the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic, autonomous, particular church, in full communion with the Holy See and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. It is one of the major archiepiscopal Churches of the Catholic Church that are not distinguished with a patriarchal title. It is headed by Major Archbishop Baselios Cardinal Cleemis Catholicos of the Major Archdiocese of Trivandrum based in Kerala, India.
The Syro-Malabar Church is an Eastern Catholic church based in Kerala, India. The Syro-Malabar Church is an autonomous particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, including the Latin Church and the 22 other Eastern Catholic Churches, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO). The Church is headed by the Metropolitan and Gate of all India Major Archbishop Mar George Cardinal Alencherry. The Syro-Malabar Synod of Bishops canonically convoked and presided over by the Major Archbishop constitutes the supreme authority of the Church. The Major Archiepiscopal Curia of the Church is based in Kakkanad, Kochi. Syro-Malabar is a prefix coined from the words Syriac as the church employs the East Syriac Rite liturgy, and Malabar which is the historical name for modern Kerala. The name has been in usage in official Vatican documents since the nineteenth century. It is the second largest Eastern Catholic Church in the Catholic communion, after the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The Syro-Malabar Church is primarily based in India; with 5 metropolitan archeparchies (archdioceses) and 10 suffragan eparchies in Kerala, there are 17 eparchies in other parts of India, and 4 eparchies outside India.
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop. In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Catholic Church. An archdeacon is often responsible for administration within an archdeaconry, which is the principal subdivision of the diocese. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church has defined an archdeacon as "A cleric having a defined administrative authority delegated to him by the bishop in the whole or part of the diocese." The office has often been described metaphorically as that of oculus episcopi, the "bishop's eye".
John Raymond McGann was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York from 1976 to 2000.
Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy was an Indian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was the Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in the Roman Curia and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1985. His episcopical motto was Aedificare domum Dei which means "To build the house of God". He was the fourth cardinal from India and the first curial cardinal of Asia outside of the Middle East.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Irinjalakuda is a suffragan eparchy in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Thrissur in Kerala state's Thrissur District, southern India.It is part of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (which follows the Syro-Malabar Rite, the Indian variant of the Syro-Oriental Rite.
Gerald Francis O'Keefe was a 20th-century bishop of the Catholic Church in the United States. He served as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul in the state of Minnesota from 1961 to 1966 and bishop of the Diocese of Davenport in the state of Iowa from 1966 to 1993.
Patabendige Don Albert Malcolm Ranjith, often known simply as Malcolm Ranjith or Albert Malcolm Ranjith, is the ninth and current Archbishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka, serving since 2009. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2010.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tuticorin is a unit of the Catholic Church in the city of Tuticorin, part of the Ecclesiastical province of Madurai in India.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Salem is a diocese located in the city of Salem in the Ecclesiastical province of Pondicherry and Cuddalore in India.
Peter Joseph Baltes was a German-born American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Alton from 1870 until his death in 1886.
Thomas Joseph McDonough was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the bishop of the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia (1960–1967) and as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky (1967–1981).
William Hickley Gross, C.Ss.R., was an American member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer who was a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of the Diocese of Savannah (1873–1885) and Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Oregon City (1885–1898).
Peter Abir Antonisamy is an Indian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Sultanpet.
Peter Fernando was a Roman Catholic prelate from India.
Right Reverend Dr. Fidelis Lionel Emmanuel Fernando is a Sri Lankan priest and current Roman Catholic Bishop of Mannar. He is the first Bishop appointed from among the Bharatha community of Sri Lanka.
Stephen Antony Pillai mononymously known as Stephen is the Indian bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tuticorin.
Francis Tiburtius Roche was the first bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tuticorin.
Bishop Antony Devotta was the ninth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tiruchirappalli of the Ecclesiastical Province of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
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