Edwin Regan was born in
Port Talbot, and studied at
St. John's Seminary, Waterford,
Ireland, where he was
ordained to the
priesthood on 5 July 1959. He then served as assistant
pastor at St. Alban's Church in
Pontypool (1959) and at St. Joseph's Church in
Neath (1959–1966). From 1966 to 1967, he attended
Corpus Christi College in
London, obtaining a
diploma in
catechetics. Regan served as
chaplain to Porthcawl Convent from 1967 to 1971, whence he became director of catechetics and
cathedral administrator for the
Archdiocese of Cardiff. He was raised to the rank of
Honorary Canon in 1978, and
Chapter Canon in 1985. He was later pastor of St Helen's Church in
Barry (1984–1989) and of St. Mary's Church in
Bridgend (1989–1994). On 7 November 1994, Regan was appointed
Bishop of Wrexham by
Pope John Paul II. He received his
episcopal consecration on the following 13 December from
Archbishop John Ward,
OFM Cap, with Bishops
Daniel Mullins and
Vincent Nichols serving as
co-consecrators. In addition to his Wrexham post, Regan was named
Apostolic Administrator of the
Archdiocese of Cardiff in December 2000, to assist the ailing Archbishop Ward in governing the archdiocese. This appointment was considered unusual, as an Apostolic Administrator is normally named when the sitting
Ordinary has either died or resigned. Regan remained in the post until the appointment of
Peter Smith as the new
Archbishop of Cardiff on 26 October 2001. On 27 June 2012 it was announced that
Pope Benedict XVI had accepted Bishop Regan's resignation because he had reached the age limit and had appointed Mgr
Peter Brignall, Vicar General of Wrexham, to succeed him as third bishop of the diocese. Bishop Regan moved to
Blaenau Ffestiniog to serve as a parish priest for five years before finally retiring from ministry. ==References==