Bishop Mathias Sebastião Francisco Fernandes (4 November 1917 — 9 May 1985) was a

Roman Catholic bishop In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an Holy orders in the Catholic Church, ordained Minister (Catholic Church), minister who holds the fullness of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament of holy orders and is responsible for teachin ...

, the first native to be bishop of Diocese of Mysore in

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

, India (16 November 1963 — 9 May 1985). His tenure was marked by the introduction of a number of religious orders offering educational opportunities within the diocese. He was of

Goan Goans ( Romi Konkani: , ) is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, formerly part of Portuguese India (''Estado Português da Índia''). They form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, ...

origin.

Priest, Bishop

Fernandes was born on 4 November 1917 in São Matias,

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

. He attended

Rachol Seminary The Rachol Seminary, also known as Patriarchal Seminary of Rachol, is the diocesan major seminary of the Primatial Catholic Archdiocese of Goa and Daman in Rachol, Goa, India. Historical outline The edifice that presently houses the seminar ...

and was ordained priest on 26 October 1944. He served as parish priest of the St. Philomena's Cathedral in Mysore and later as Bishop of Mysore (16 November 1963 — 9 May 1985, consecrated 3 February 1964). Bishop Mathias attended Sessions 3 and 4 of the

Vatican Council II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for sessions ...

Contributions

Educational

Bishop Fernandes supported efforts of the church in establishing schools in the diocese. With his backing, the Ursuline Sisters to set up a number of schools. He also supported the work of the Apostolic Carmelites to open a school. The Congregation of the Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany open a school during his tenure. He invited The Sisters of Notre Dame to work in the diocese. They established a high school. Bishop Fernandes also backed the founding of St. Joseph's College of Education in Mysore. As was his predecessor, Bishop René Feuga, he was also a patron of St. Philomena’s College in Mysore. St. Matthias School in Mysore was set up in memory of Bishop Fernandes. With Fernandes's support, the Little Sisters of the Poor opened a home for the aged in Mysore.

Ecclesiastical governance

Soon after his consecration, Bishop Fernandes erected a structure for a church in Malavalli, a town in the district of Mandya. The church and parish of patron saint of the Bishop's ancestral village are dedicated to Saint Mathias. He enabled for the Ursuline Franciscan sisters to establish the Christu Raj Convent, in

Hanur Hanur is a major taluk in Chamrajnagar district of Karnataka State, India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; t ...

, which was established on 11 June 1979. In 1979, the Bishop requested the Bethany congregation to set up a convent in Kutta, in the

Coorg Kodagu district () (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State ...

(now

Kodagu Kodagu district () (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative List of districts of Karnataka, district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State at which point it was merged ...

) district, to meet local educational and pastoral needs. This was inaugurated as the St. Mary in November 1981; it also administers the school of St. Mary's in the same settlement. Members of the Institute of the

Sisters of Charity Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity in their name. Some ''Sisters of Charity'' communities refer to the Vincentian tradition alone, or in America to the tradition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (whose sisters are also of ...

of Sts. Bartolomea Capitanio and Vincenza Gerosa (SCCG) set up Aashirvad in Krishna Raja Pete, and the school Capitanio Nilaya in the same location, after being invited by the Bishop, to work in education, health-care and socio-pastoral work. In 1984, Bishop Fernandes invited the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Anne, Bangalore, to start a new foundation at Pushpagiri, Belvathagrama, some 7 km from Mysore city, initially to run the existing Kannada Primary School belonging to the parish and to help in the parish activities. This led to the establishment of the Convent of St. Anne in the village. Bishop Mathias was able to persuade the Royal Family of Mysore to sell the ''Rani Thota'' property to the Discalced Carmelites of the Manjummel Province where they established Pushpagrama in 1962. Following the Second Vatican Council, which urged that seminarians have graduated before entry into the novitiate, the

Society of the Divine Word The Society of the Divine Word (), abbreviated SVD and popularly called the Verbites or the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men. As of 2020, i ...

(Società del Verbo Divino - SVD) in 1972 decided to base their formation house in the city of Mysore, a proposal welcomed by Bishop Fernandes which enabled the establishment of Vidya Niketan in 1974. He was also involved in inaugurating a new system of formation in 1983.

Ecumenical, inter-religious dialogue

Bishop Fernandes is credited with having initiated and guided the project of producing the first inter-confessional Bible in the Kannada language, completed in 1998. His web of friendships also spread to people of other religions, as is evidenced by the narrative of Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem, who was entrusted the Bishop's pectoral cross with the charge to hand it over to the Bishop should he survive, or to his successor in the event of his death.

Death

Fernandes died of

sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...

on 9 May 1985. He is buried in the St. Philomena's Cathedral in Mysore.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandes, Mathias Sebastião Francisco People from Goa 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in India 1917 births 1985 deaths