Retired Bishop of Chilaw S.Lanka, passes away

(Aug.25,2009): In Sri Lanka, retired Bishop Frank Marcus Fernando of Chilaw, a strong advocate for the people in public affairs, passed away on Monday (Aug. 24). The 77- year- old prelate died after an long illness. Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo, who celebrated the requiem Mass on Tuesday (Aug. 25) said- " He took the side of the people on every issue with the government." Hundreds of bishops, priests, Religious and laypeople attended the noon service in Colombo. The funeral Mass is scheduled for Aug. 27 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Chilaw, a coastal area in the north of Colombo.
Bishop Fernando was recognized as a rights activist and a writer. He campaigned against what he saw as deteriorating standards of justice and environmental degradation in the country. He will be remembered for the many rallies, signature campaigns and prayer services he organized on various issues. He devoted particular attention to campaigns against a bill to regulate religious conversions, and against a coal-fired power plant that people fear will threaten the environment and a popular Catholic shrine in his diocese. "His priesthood was a gift from God. We will carry forward his ideas," Archbishop Ranjith said in his homily of the requiem Mass. He highlighted Bishop Fernando's long service as president of the Catholic Bishop's Conference in Sri Lanka and as head of several Church institutions.
Bishop Fernando was born in 1931 and ordained a priest in 1956 in Rome, where he did his priestly studies. He was ordained a bishop on Aug. 19, 1965, appointed coadjutor bishop of Chilaw in 1968 and succeeded as bishop of the diocese in December 1972. He retired in October 2006.