Michael Paul Dare Fava CBE QHC (born 1962) is a British Catholic priest and former British Army chaplain. From 2018 to 2020, he served as Deputy Chaplain General of the Royal Army Chaplains' Department: he is the first Roman Catholic to hold the post. [1]
Fava was born in 1962 in Kampala, Uganda, before moving to the United Kingdom in 1970. [2] He was educated at Salesian College, Farnborough, an independent Catholic school. [3] He studied theology at the University of Oxford and then pastoral theology at the University of London. [2]
Fava entered the Order of Saint Benedict in 1980, and was ordained to the priesthood on 8 July 1989. [4] [5] He was commissioned into the British Army as a chaplain in 1997. [4] [6] In 2004, he moved from the Benedictines to become a secular priest affiliated with the Diocese of Portsmouth. [4] He appointed Deputy Chaplain-General to Her Majesty's Land Forces Army in November 2018, [1] and promoted to the rank of deputy chaplain general (equivalent to brigadier) on 30 June 2019. [7]
On 5 July 2017, Fava was appointed an Honorary Chaplain to the Queen (QHC). [8] He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours. [9]
Fava retired from the British Army on 30 October 2020. [10] In late 2021, he joined St Joseph's Church, Newbury, Berkshire, in the Diocese of Portsmouth, as parish priest. [11] [12]
Michael Paul Dare Fava CBE QHC (born 1962) is a British Catholic priest and former British Army chaplain. From 2018 to 2020, he served as Deputy Chaplain General of the Royal Army Chaplains' Department: he is the first Roman Catholic to hold the post. [1]
Fava was born in 1962 in Kampala, Uganda, before moving to the United Kingdom in 1970. [2] He was educated at Salesian College, Farnborough, an independent Catholic school. [3] He studied theology at the University of Oxford and then pastoral theology at the University of London. [2]
Fava entered the Order of Saint Benedict in 1980, and was ordained to the priesthood on 8 July 1989. [4] [5] He was commissioned into the British Army as a chaplain in 1997. [4] [6] In 2004, he moved from the Benedictines to become a secular priest affiliated with the Diocese of Portsmouth. [4] He appointed Deputy Chaplain-General to Her Majesty's Land Forces Army in November 2018, [1] and promoted to the rank of deputy chaplain general (equivalent to brigadier) on 30 June 2019. [7]
On 5 July 2017, Fava was appointed an Honorary Chaplain to the Queen (QHC). [8] He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours. [9]
Fava retired from the British Army on 30 October 2020. [10] In late 2021, he joined St Joseph's Church, Newbury, Berkshire, in the Diocese of Portsmouth, as parish priest. [11] [12]