Anglican Bishop remembered for championing peace

(UCAN) Christians and other faith communities in Sri Lanka have paid tribute to Anglican Bishop Kenneth M. Fernando, commending him for defending human rights during the country’s civil war and promoting dialogue across ethnicities and faiths.

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Fernando died on Sept. 3 at the age of 93 in the national capital, Colombo.

Born on July 25, 1932, Fernando studied at the University of Oxford and served as the Bishop of Colombo from 1992 to 2001.

He also served as president of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), a pan-Asian ecumenical organization, from 1995 to 2000.

In 2022, the conference honoured him for his decades of “visionary ecumenical leadership.”

In a statement on Sept. 3, the CCA hailed the bishop’s contributions to society during Sri Lanka’s darkest period.

“Bishop Fernando was widely respected for his unwavering commitment to reconciliation during Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war. He courageously championed peacebuilding initiatives and sought to bridge divides between warring ethnic and religious communities,” the statement said.