Anthony Fernandes (6 July 1936 – 3 February 2023) was an Indian

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

who served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Bareilly from 1989 until his retirement in 2014.

Early life

Bishop Anthony was born in Kalathur, Udupi, on 6 July 1936, to David and Bridgit Fernandes.

Priesthood

After his high school studies at Don Bosco School, Shriva, Anthony joined the diocese of Varanasi. He completed his initial formation at St Paul’s Minor Seminary, in Lucknow, which was followed by studies in philosophy and theology at St Joseph’s Regional Seminary in Allahabad. He was ordained to the priesthood during the Eucharistic Congress held in Mumbai on 2 December 1964. Anthony worked as a priest in Varanasi and Gorakhpur for 26 years and felt deeply responsible for the poor and the needy in those regions. During his pastoral ministry, he worked ardently for the education of children and the empowerment of women.

Episcopate

On 19 January 1989,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

took the momentous decision of erecting a new diocese—the Diocese of Bareilly—by promulgating the bull ''Indorum Inter Gentes''. By this bull, six districts of the Diocese of Lucknow in the state of Uttar Pradesh, namely, Bareilly, Nainital, Almora, Pithoragarh, Shahjahanpur and Pilibhit, were carved out to form the new Diocese of Bareilly, and the church of St. Alphonsus was designated as its cathedral. The newly erected diocese was made a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

of the Archdiocese of Agra. On the same day, the pope appointed and proclaimed Anthony Fernandes, the vicar general of the Diocese of Varanasi, as the bishop-elect of the newly erected diocese, by promulgating the bull ''Eodem Animi Pastoralis''. Fernandes' ordination as the first Bishop of Bareilly followed on 29 March 1989 at St Alphonsus Cathedral, Bareilly.

Death

Fernandes died from multiple organ failure in Delhi, on 3 February 2023, at the age of 86. He was a priest for 59 years and a bishop for 35 years.

References

External links

Diocese of Bareilly
1936 births 2023 deaths Deaths from multiple organ failure 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in India 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in India Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II Christian clergy from Mangalore {{India-RC-bishop-stub