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Welcoming the Seventh Bishop of Kandy: Bishop Valence Mendis Source:Island On 9th October 2021, the Vatican announced the appointment of Rt. Rev. Dr. Valence Mendis (Bishop of Chilaw) as the Bishop of Kandy by His Holiness Pope Francis, succeeding Bishop Vianney Fernando on his retirement after a very fruitful and record-breaking long episcopate spanning more than 38 years. His installation as the 7th Bishop of Kandy will take place on 17th January 2022 at St. Anthony’s Cathedral, Kandy at a ceremony to be presided over by Bishop Vianney after which he will simultaneously shepherd the Diocese of Chilaw as its Apostolic Administrator. Bishop Valence is no stranger to Kandy. Soon after his ordination as a priest for the Diocese of Chilaw on 20th July 1985, he was given as a “fidei donum priest” (i.e temporarily ‘loaned’) to the Diocese of Kandy by the late Bishop Frank Marcus Fernando, for a period of two years. This was ...