Fr Andrew Downie has been the Catholic Chaplain to Durham University since 2016.

Fr Andrew is a native of Sunderland; he studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge and later qualified as a solicitor. He trained for the priesthood at the Venerable English College, Rome, where he gained a Licence in Fundamental Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University. Ordained priest in 2002, Fr Andrew has served as Vocations Director for the Diocese and Chaplain at the Universities of Newcastle and Northumberland. Before coming to Durham he was Parish Priest in nearby Consett.

Fr Andrew has a special interest in the teaching of Vatican II, and in the encounter of faith with contemporary culture, and is studying for a PhD part-time in the University’s Department of Theology and Religion.