Please pray for the repose of the soul of Fr William Edwin Cownley, who died on Wednesday 6 September 2023, aged 73, fortified by the rites of Holy Mother Church.

Fr Cownley was ordained on 27 December, 1975.  He ministered in Wolverhampton, Headington, Winyates, Bidford on Avon and Bartley Green, before his appointment to Our Lady & St Gregory’s, Bearwood in 2001, where he served for 22 years.

Fr Cownley's body will be received into the Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel and St Gregory the Great, Shires Oak Road, Bearwood, on Wednesday 11 October at 7pm, followed by the celebration of Holy Mass.

His Funeral Mass will be held at 12noon on Thursday 12 October, at which Archbishop Bernard Longley will preside.

Cremation will take place at Lodge Hill Cemetery at 2.30pm.

We pray for Fr Cownley’s family, friends, his former parishioners and all who mourn him. May he rest in peace.