ABERTILLERY ORPHEUS MALE CHOIR

CÔR MEIBION ABERTYLERI

FOUNDED 1908

PATRON: Robert Lloyd CBE

Site updated:12 September, 2007

Appointment of Priest-in-Charge of Abertillery and Cwmtillery The Bishop of Monmouth, the Rt Revd Dominic Walker OGS, is pleased to announce that he has appointed Father Patrick Coleman to be the Priest-in-Charge of Abertillery and Cwmtillery. Fr Patrick is at present the Rector of Goetre , Vicar of Llanover, and Director of Continuing Ministerial Education in the Diocese of Monmouth. Fr Patrick is aged 47 and attended school in Pontypool. Both he and his father have been members of the Abertillery Orpheus Male Voice Choir. He was educated at Reading University, the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and in Munich.
He is a Bachelor of Philosophy, a Licenciate and Bachelor of Sacred Theology and a qualified teacher. Fr Patrick trained for the priesthood at the Venerable English College in Rome, was ordained into the Roman Catholic Church and served in the Archdiocese of Cardiff where he was appointed as Ecumenical Adviser. Fr Patrick was licensed as an Anglican priest by Archbishop Rowan Williams ten years ago and served as a non-stipendiary priest at St Mary's, Abergavenny. He then served in the Diocese of Europe as chaplain at Varese in Italy until he took up his present appointment in 2001. He leads the Servant Leadership programme for our clergy and enjoys music, playing the organ, walking the dog and good food and wine. Thinking of his choral and ecumenical links with Abertillery, Fr Patrick says: "I owe a lot to the people of Abertillery with whom I have sung and prayed in past years. I am looking forward to living and working in the community to bring people to Christ and to put the Church at the very centre of these communities where it is so easy to sing the praises of God." The Bishop says: " Fr Patrick is among our most able priests. He is a gifted leader and teacher with a desire to see the Church grow and relate to the local people. I am sure that he will be a great blessing to the people in his new parish."