Pope Francis appoints new Bishop of Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Columbus will have a new bishop as the Vatican announced they have appointed the city’s 13th bishop of the catholic diocese of Columbus.

Pope Francis has appointed the Reverend Earl K. Fernandes, a priest of the archdiocese of Cincinnati, as the new bishop of Columbus.

Fernandes will be introduced at a press conference at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Catholic Center. You can watch the press conference LIVE in the video player above.

He will succeed Reverend Robert Brennan who was installed as the bishop of Brooklyn last November.

“Grateful to Almighty God and to the Blessed Virgin Mary for my vocation and recognizing my own unworthiness, I accepted, with fear and trepidation but also with joy, the appointment by Pope Francis to serve as the 13th bishop of the Diocese of Columbus.” said Fr. Fernandes.

Fernandes is set to be ordained a bishop of the Catholic Church and installed as the city’s new bishop on May 31.