Roy Thomas Davies (31 January 1934 – 7 August 2013) was a Welsh Anglican clergyman, who served as

Bishop of Llandaff The Bishop of Llandaff is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. Area of authority The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The bishop's seat is in the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (the site of a ...

from 1985 to 1999.

Life

Davies was educated at

St David's College, Lampeter University of Wales, Lampeter ( cy, Prifysgol Cymru, Llanbedr Pont Steffan) was a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822, and incorporated by royal charter in 1828, it was the oldest degree awarding institution in Wales, with limited ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, obtaining a BA degree in 1955, and then at

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...

, where he obtained a

BLitt Bachelor of Letters (BLitt or LittB; Latin ' or ') is a second undergraduate university degree in which students specialize in an area of study relevant to their own personal, professional, or academic development. This area of study may have been t ...

in 1959. He trained for ordination at

St Stephen's House, Oxford St Stephen's House is an Anglican theological college and one of five permanent private halls of the University of Oxford, England. It will cease to be a permanent private hall in 2023. The college has a very small proportion of undergraduate s ...

. He was ordained deacon in 1959, and ordained priest in 1960, serving as assistant

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

, Saint Paul from 1959 to 1964. He was then

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

Llanafan y Trawsgoed Llanafan is a small village between Tregaron and Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, in Wales. Llanafan is around ten miles from Aberystwyth and Tregaron. It is named for its parish church, St Afan's ('), which serves as the chapel for the nearby Trawsgoe ...

from 1964 to 1967 before working as chaplain to Anglican students at the

University College of Wales, Aberystwyth , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

from 1967 to 1973. After being secretary of the Provincial Council for Mission and Unity of the

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishop ...

from 1973 to 1979, he became vicar of St David's,

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

from 1979 to 1983. He was appointed Archdeacon of Carmarthen in 1982, and vicar of

Llanegwad Llanegwad () is a community located in Carmarthenshire, Wales. The population taken at the 2011 census was 1,473. Llanegwad is built up mainly of small farms and detached homes. The community is bordered by the communities of: Llanfihangel Rhos ...

in 1983. He was clerical secretary of the Governing Body of the Church in Wales from 1983 until his appointment as

in 1985. He retired in 1999.

Personal views

On the divisive issue of the ordination of women priests Davies agreed to a moratorium which he maintained throughout his episcopate. Privately he expressed himself opposed to women's ordination in the earlier stages of the debate, but later changed his mind and became a supporter of the ordination of women as deacons and as priests. Bishop Davies supported the use of both English and Welsh

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

in the Church, and was himself fluent in both languages. He had studied Welsh as the subject of his undergraduate degree at Lampeter.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Roy 1934 births 2013 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Alumni of St Stephen's House, Oxford Alumni of the University of Wales, Lampeter Archdeacons of Carmarthen Bishops of Llandaff 20th-century bishops of the Church in Wales