Stephen Ferrando (28 September 1895 – 21 June 1978) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest belonging to the Salesians of Don Bosco.
On 9 July 1934, Ferrando was appointed the bishop of Krishnanagar in Nadiab, the island-city in the province of Bengal; he choose Apostolus Christi ("An apostle for Christ") as his motto.
On 18 March 1932, he wrote to the Rector Major of the Salesians: "St. Francis Xavier made that emotional appeal to the studious youth of his times.
At that time, missionaries were valued as facilitators for social improvement and uplift, and delegations were continually calling on Ferrando from the Asom, Khasis, Mundas, Karbis, Tiwas, Bodos, the Manipuris, Garos, Nagas and other tribes requesting that he assign priests, nuns, doctors, educationists and other personnel to their communities.
Ferrando immediately began plans to build the diocese a proper catgedral with adjacent seminary, bishop's house and a resthouse for missionaries.
Believing it necessary to organize the local people to take up clerical positions, Ferrando founded the Missionary Sisters of Mary, Help of Christians (MSMHC) in 1942.
Ferrando was a regular contributor of articles of missiological, cultural, anthropological, geographical and historical nature on the Assam Mission to such publications as the Bollettino Salesiano, Gioventù Missionaria and more.
The Congregation for the Causes of Saints – under Pope John Paul II – granted approval to the cause on 23 April 2003 which gave Ferrando the title Servant of God.
Paul Vadakumpadan and Jose Varickasseril, Vendrame Institute Publications, Sacred Heart Theological College, Shillong, 2003, and more particularly, text from the essay The Missionary Vision of Stephen Ferrando by George Maliekal.