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 (officer), ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. Area of authority The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The bishop's cathedra, seat is in the Llandaff Cathedral, Cathedral Chu ...

from 1985 to 1999.

Life

Davies was educated at

St David's College, Lampeter University of Wales, Lampeter () 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 degree awarding powers since 1852. It was a ...

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

, 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 ...

, where he obtained a

BLitt BLitt may refer to: * Bachelor of Letters, a second bachelor's degree awarded in Australia, Brazil, UK, and US * Bachelor of Literature, the statutory bachelor's degree in literature studies awarded in China {{Disam ...

in 1959. He trained for ordination at

St Stephen's House, Oxford St Stephen's House is an external theological college with observer status at the University of Oxford, affiliated with the Church of England. From 2003 to 2023 it was a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford. The college typicall ...

. 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'' () 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 who are as ...

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

, 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 p ...

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 Trawsgoed ...

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

University College of Wales, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

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

Church in Wales The Church in Wales () is an 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 bishops. The position is currently held b ...

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

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, ; , 'Merlin's fort' or possibly 'Sea-town fort') is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community (Wales), community in Wales, lying on the River Towy north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. At the 2021 United Kingdom cen ...

from 1979 to 1983. He was appointed

Archdeacon of Carmarthen An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of most ...

in 1982, and vicar of

Llanegwad Llanegwad () is a village and 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: Lla ...

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. Davies died unmarried on 7 August, 2013.https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2013/23-august/gazette/obituaries/obituary-the-rt-revd-roy-thomas-davies

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. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

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 Anglo-Catholic bishops Archdeacons of Carmarthen Bishops of Llandaff 20th-century bishops of the Church in Wales Welsh Anglo-Catholics