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Biography

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Stephen Ferrando was born on 28 September 1895 in Rossiglione, in the province of Genoa in Liguria, northern Italy, to Agostino Ferrando and Giuseppina Salvi. He entered the Salesians of Don Bosco (the Society of St. Francis de Sales) as a young man and made his religious profession in that congregation, which had been founded for the Christian education of youth and for missionary work. After studies in philosophy and theology he was ordained a priest on 18 March 1923. Later that year he was assigned to the Salesian missions in northeast India. He sailed in December 1923 and began work in the Assam region, a mountainous and culturally diverse territory where the Catholic presence was still limited and communications were difficult.

On 9 July 1934 he was appointed Bishop of Krishnagar in Bengal and was consecrated bishop on 10 November 1934. His time in that see was short. On 26 November 1935 he was transferred to the Diocese of Shillong, which covered a large part of the Assam hills, including areas that later became Meghalaya and neighboring jurisdictions. He remained Bishop of Shillong until 1969, a tenure of more than three decades. In that office he made lengthy pastoral visitations among Khasi, Garo, and other indigenous communities, promoted parishes, schools, hostels, and charitable works, and fostered local vocations to the priesthood and religious life. On 24 October 1942 he founded the Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians, a congregation of women religious dedicated to education, health care, and missionary service in the region; the institute later spread more widely in Northeast India.

Ferrando took part in the Second Vatican Council. In 1969 he resigned the see of Shillong in line with the emerging practice of episcopal retirement, was named titular bishop of Troina, and returned to Italy. He spent his last years with the Salesians and died in Genoa on 21 June 1978. His remains were later transferred to Shillong and interred in the Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians. A cause for beatification was opened in the Diocese of Shillong. On 3 March 2016 Pope Francis authorized the decree on his heroic virtues, conferring the title of Venerable. He has not been beatified or canonized, and no universal feast day has been assigned to him.

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