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Nicholas Francis Fernando, fms

Participant (Provincial)
Sri Lanka - South Asia

Br. Nicholas Francis Fernando was born in 1956 in Kalaeliya, a village in Ja-ela, Sri Lanka. He completed his juniorate at Our Lady’s Hermitage, Tudella, Ja-ela, and his novitiate in Walpola, Ragma, Sri Lanka, making his first vows on August 15, 1976. He completed one year of scholasticate in Negombo and two more years at Joseph Vaz College, Wennappuwa, and made his perpetual vows on December 22, 1985. He earned a BTh from the National Seminary of Sri Lanka, affiliated with the Urbaniana University, Rome, and completed an 18-month course for formators from January 1990 to June 1991 in Castelgandolfo and the Generalate in Rome. As a missionary, he served in Tamil Nadu, India, from 1980 to 1983 and again from 2008 to 2010. He was a formator at the Tomontaka Novitiate, Philippines (1991-1992), and novice master in Tudella, Sri Lanka, from 1992-1998, 2006-2008, and 2014-2020. He also taught at Maris Stella College, Negombo (2000-2005), and worked with the Sri Lankan Tamil community on peace and reconciliation after the civil war (2010-2014). He later joined the staff of the Marist Formation House in Negombo and served as vice provincial of the South Asia Province. In 2022, he was appointed Provincial of South Asia for a first term and, following his reappointment in 2024, continues his second term.