Born in Madrid, of devoted parents, in 1929, I studied at the Metropolitan Seminary of Oviedo for 12 years. I was ordained on May 30, 1954. I then became a Roman Catholic chaplain in a nunnery in Navelgas, a quiet town in Asturias, Spain.
After an early dinner, I usually visited the village priest, an older man who was outgoing and friendly. One night in 1960 he showed me a booklet called "The Gift" (which takes a paragraph from the autobiographical writings of former Canadian priest Charles Chiniquy). I asked his permission to take it and read it.
The brochure made me want to read the Bible. I wanted to know if there was a real difference between the Protestant and Catholic Bibles. Reserving my identity, I wrote to the address of the brochure, requesting a Bible or a New Testament.
I started studying the New Testament, especially Acts and Hebrews. As I did so, the conviction grew in me that the Roman Catholic Church had strayed from the Bible, that its priesthood had usurped the place of Christ.
The discovery of the Word of God became an exciting adventure for me. As I read on, I felt the sharp reality of Hebrews 4:12 that “The word of God is alive and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword; and penetrates the soul and the spirit, the joints and the marrow, and discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Theology and not the Bible
During my four years of theological studies, I had never seriously read the Bible. In my case, the Holy Scriptures were consulted only as a textbook in the study of Catholic Dogma. I knew only those parts of the Bible that were included in the mass and in the texts of the Roman breviary.
The Roman Catholic Church said that salvation depended on the absolution of sins by a priest and that anyone who refused to confess their mortal sins to a priest was eternally condemned. But I couldn't find any statement to that effect in Acts or in any other New Testament book. All the holy writers insisted that man should go directly to God for forgiveness.
On the other hand, in Hebrews, I clearly read that Christ has been offered once and for all for the sinner. "So," I asked myself, "how dared the Council of Trent in 1562 declare that at Mass Christ offered Himself through the hands of the priest in a true and real sacrifice to God?"
Faith alone
I also discovered that justification was by faith, and I thought: If I have not found peace for my soul in the Roman Catholic Church, is it perhaps because I hoped to earn it as a reward for my own efforts? "But to him who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness" (Romans 4: 5).
In that way, I suddenly understood that Jesus Christ was not demanding anything of me and I gave up all my efforts to earn salvation. Jesus Christ became my only Lord and Savior.
Through the Mission “De Spaanse Evangelische Zending” in the Netherlands, I was put in contact with a former Spanish Roman Catholic priest who directed me to the Dutch Foundation In de Rechte Straat (On the right path). This Christian organization had been helping priests leaving the Roman Catholic Church for several years, studying the principles of the 16th-century Reformers and returning to the doctrines of the Bible.
On May 2, 1961, I arrived in Brussels, later I went to Hilversum, Holland. Then I sent a letter to my archbishop, saying: “I have discovered the Word of God, and Jesus Christ has presented Himself to me as my only Lord and Savior. Rome claims that Catholicism is centered on Christ, but has actually turned its back on Him."
Then I went to San José, Costa Rica, where I received my degree in Theology on November 25, 1963 from the Latin American Theological Seminary. I finally spent several months in Guatemala in consultation with the Missouri Lutheran Synod before coming to the United States, where I have been preaching the Gospel since June 1, 1964, to Spanish-speaking people.
My goal and my wish
My earnest desire is to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, bring the Gospel of grace to people, and tell them about the great things the Lord has done for me. What He has done for me, He can do for them. . . and for you.
"Come out of her, My people, so that you are not partakers of her sins" (Revelation 18: 4). "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out " (Acts 3:19).
ENRIQUE, 83, died suddenly in early 2013. He was a resident of Newtown PA and formerly of King of Prussia. He was Professor Emeritus at Eastern University, St. Davids PA, where he taught for 30 years.
Born in Madrid, Spain, Dr. Fernandez was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in Oviedo, Spain, in 1954. He resigned the priesthood to study the Reformation in the Reformed Churches of Holland and the Latin American Biblical Seminary in San Jose, Costa Rica, where he received a Master's Degree in Theology. From 1965 to 1969, he served as Associate Pastor of the Second Reformed Church in Reading PA.
After receiving his Master's Degree from Temple University and Ph.D. in Romance Languages from the University of Pennsylvania, he began his teaching career. In 2001, Dr. Fernandez was awarded a special honor, la Cruz de la Encomienda de Isabel la Catolica by the Royal Decree of Juan Carlos, King of Spain, for his research of Spain's contributions to the independence of the United States and the first Spanish diplomats in this country.
Dr. Fernandez was an avid hiker and a leader in the Philadelphia Trail Club and Appalachian Mountain Club.
He is survived by his wife, Catherine; a sister in Spain and several nephews and nieces. A Memorial Service was previously held at the Church of the Ascension in King of Prussia PA.
[Source: https://bereanbeacon.org/es/yo-era-sacerdote-en-espana/]
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