Colombo, Member of the Priests’ Council and the Board of Consultants, and Episcopal Vicar for the Faithful of Tamil Origin in the Archdiocese of Colombo. Three of Fidelis' siblings also went on to serve in the Catholic clergy in Sri Lanka: his brother Joe was attached to the Diocese of Jaffna, while two sisters- Assumpta and Micheline- joined the Apostolic Carmelite Congregation. Episcopal ministry A number of priests were considered for appointment as Auxiliary Bishops by Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, with Fernando's name being among them. In preparation, he was assigned the titular see of Horta on 28 November 2011 and on 11 February 2012, was consecrated as an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Colombo at St. Lucia's Cathedral by Cardinal Ranjith and two co-consecrators: Bishop of Trincomalee, Dr. Joseph Kingsley Swampillai and Bishop of Kurunegala, Dr. Harold Anthony Perera. Fernando then functioned, at various times, as Regional Bishop of Negombo and as Chairman of the Episcopal Commission for Ecumenism and Inter-religious Dialogue. On 28 November 2017, Pope Francis appointed Fernando Bishop of Mannar; he was installed on 30 December that year in a ceremony held at St. Sebastian's Cathedral, Mannar. The ceremony was attended by members of the parish, civil society leaders, Apostolic Administrator Kingsley Swampillai (who oversaw the diocese since the position of Bishop fell vacant in 2016), Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Apostolic nuncio Archbishop Pierre Nguyên Van Tot and Bishop of Jaffna Justin Gnanapragasam. References 1948 births 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Sri Lanka Alumni of St. Benedict's College, Colombo Catholic University of America alumni Living people People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka Pontifical Urban University alumni Roman Catholic bishops of Mannar Sri Lankan Tamil priests Bharatha people Roman Catholic auxiliary bishops of Colombo