New ecumenical and interfaith appointment at Bishops' Conference

Source: CCS

Father Andrew Faley has been appointed Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations by Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

Fr Faley, a priest of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, has previously worked as the Vice-Rector and Pastoral Director of the Pontifical Beda College in Rome (1999 - 2003) and for the Bishops' Conference Catholic Education Service as National Adviser for Catechesis and Religious Education (1994-1999). Before that, he worked as a team member and Director in the Hexham and Newcastle Diocesan Religious Education Centre for 10 years (1984 - 1994), specialising in Adult Formation.

Andrew James Faley was born on April 12, 1954, in Dilston, near Hexham, Northumberland, and ordained for the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle on June 23, 1979. Fr Faley, 49, worked as an assistant and parish priest in five parishes including Hartlepool and South Shields.

Mgr Andrew Summersgill, General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, said: "I am very grateful to Bishop Ambrose Griffiths for releasing Andrew to work with the Secretariat. Practically every aspect of our work has either an ecumenical or interfaith dimension. I am looking forward to working with Andrew in the future."

Fr Andrew Faley, Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations, said: "I am delighted to be invited by Mgr Summersgill to work as Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations. "I look forward very much to building on the excellent work of Bishop Bernard Longley and wish to thank Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, President of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, and Bishop Ambrose Griffiths, Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, for their confirmation of my appointment."

Fr Faley, whose hobbies are cooking, reading, music, walking and travel, is expected to take up his appointment early in 2004. His appointment was announced at the November Meeting of the Bishops of England and Wales at Hinsley Hall, Leeds.