Michael Paul Dare Fava (born 1962) is a British

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest and former

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

chaplain. From 2018 to 2020, he served as Deputy Chaplain General of the

Royal Army Chaplains' Department The Royal Army Chaplains' Department (RAChD) is an all-officer department that provides ordained clergy to minister to the British Army. History The Army Chaplains' Department (AChD) was formed by Royal Warrant of 23 September 1796; until the ...

: he is the first Roman Catholic to hold the post.

Biography

Fava was born in 1962 in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

, Uganda, before moving to the United Kingdom in 1970. He was educated at

Salesian College, Farnborough Salesian College is an Independent Schools Council, independent Roman Catholic school in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Founded in 1901 as a small preparatory school (UK), preparatory school for boys, it soon expanded to provide secondary ed ...

, an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Catholic school Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...

. He studied theology at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and then

pastoral theology Pastoral theology is the branch of practical theology concerned with the application of the study of religion in the context of regular church ministry. This approach to theology seeks to give practical expression to theology. Normally viewed as ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. Fava entered the

Order of Saint Benedict The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

in 1980, and was ordained to the priesthood on 8 July 1989. He was commissioned into the British Army as a chaplain in 1997. In 2004, he moved from the Benedictines to become a secular priest affiliated with the Diocese of Portsmouth. He appointed Deputy Chaplain-General to Her Majesty's Land Forces Army in November 2018, and promoted to the rank of deputy chaplain general (equivalent to

brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

) on 30 June 2019. On 5 July 2017, Fava was appointed an

Honorary Chaplain to the Queen An Honorary Chaplain to the King is a member of the clergy within the United Kingdom who, through long and distinguished service, is appointed to minister to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarch of the United Kingdom. When the reigning mona ...

(QHC). He was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2019 Birthday Honours The 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...

. Fava retired from the British Army on 30 October 2020. In late 2021, he joined St Joseph's Church,

Newbury, Berkshire Newbury is a market town in West Berkshire, England, in the valley of the River Kennet. It is south of Oxford, north of Winchester, southeast of Swindon and west of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. It is also where West Berkshire Council is hea ...

, in the Diocese of Portsmouth, as parish priest.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fava, Michael 1962 births Living people 20th-century British Roman Catholic priests Former Benedictines Royal Army Chaplains' Department officers Honorary chaplains to the King Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British Army brigadiers 21st-century British Roman Catholic priests People educated at Salesian College, Farnborough