Canon William Agley
Ordained: 17 July 1998
Telephone: 0191 456 3536
Email: [email protected]
I was born and brought up in Gravesend in Kent. On leaving school I studied law at the University of the West of England in Bristol and then at the College of Law in York. I returned to my hometown, where I completed my legal training and qualified as a solicitor.
I then began formation for the priesthood at St. John’s Seminary, Wonersh in Surrey and was ordained to the diaconate in 1997. After spending a year in the parish of St. Thomas à Becket in Wandsworth, South London, I was ordained to the priesthood and sent as an assistant priest to the parish of St. Andrew in Thornton Heath, near Croydon in Surrey.
I was then given the opportunity to study Canon Law, which I did at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, while living at the Venerable English College. After those studies, I served as parish priest of the parish of Our Lady of the Crays, Orpington in Kent, and also as Judicial Vicar.
I was later asked to return to Rome to work in the Dicastery for the Clergy. While working in Rome, I also assisted in the parish of Santa Maria di Costantinopoli in Benevento. On my return to England, I was appointed parish priest of the parish of St. Charles Borromeo in Gosforth and then also of The Sacred Heart in North Gosforth. I was also appointed as diocesan Chancellor and a member of the Chapter of St. Mary’s Cathedral.
In August 2022 I moved from Gosforth to South Shields, where I became parish priest in St. Bede’s.
In my spare time I enjoy travelling, both in this country and abroad, walking and reading.