Canon William Agley appointed General Secretary of Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales

The Bishops of England and Wales have appointed Canon William Agley as the new General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.

The appointment was made during their recent plenary meeting on 16 September and will run for a term of five years.

Canon Agley, a priest of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, succeeds Greg Pope, who held the post for the past year before returning to his role as Executive Director of the General Secretariat.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President of the Bishops’ Conference, welcomed the appointment, describing Canon Agley as a priest who brings both ability and experience to the role. The Cardinal also expressed his gratitude to Bishop Stephen Wright for releasing him from his diocesan duties.

Born in Gravesend, Kent, in 1968, Canon Agley first qualified as a solicitor in 1992 before beginning studies for the priesthood at St John’s Seminary, Wonersh. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Southwark in 1998 by Archbishop Michael Bowen.

His early ministry was spent in parishes in South London, and he also served as chaplain to schools and hospitals. During this time, he undertook a range of judicial responsibilities, including those of Auditor, Defender of the Bond, Associate Judge, and later Presiding Judge.

In 2006, he became parish priest of St Joseph’s, St Mary Cray, later renamed Our Lady of the Crays following a merger. He was also Secretary of the Research Sub-Committee of the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Six years later, he moved to Rome, where he studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University and took up a post as an official at what is now the Dicastery for the Clergy. He also acted as an external spiritual director at the Venerable English College and assisted in parish ministry in Benevento.

On his return to England in 2017, Canon Agley was incardinated into the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. He served as parish priest of St Charles Borromeo, Gosforth, and Sacred Heart, North Gosforth, before moving in 2022 to St Bede’s, South Shields, and SS Peter and Paul, Tyne Dock.

Alongside his parish ministry, he was Diocesan Chancellor, a member of the Chapter of Canons and College of Consultors, and sat on the diocesan safeguarding committee. He was also appointed National Tribunal Promoter of Justice in 2023.

Fluent in English and Italian, with working knowledge of French, German and Latin, Canon Agley has also studied Biblical Hebrew and Greek. His broad pastoral, legal, and academic experience now comes to the service of the Bishops’ Conference at a time when its work spans six departments and six directorates, covering education, worship, evangelisation, ecumenical dialogue, social justice, and international affairs.

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