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This week, Azim Ahmed’s guest is a senior figure in the Church in Wales. The Right Reverend Mary Stallard, currently the Assistant Bishop of Bangor, has just been elected as the 73rd Bishop of Llandaff – a post she’ll take up in sometime in the spring. The Diocese of Llandaff covers nearly half the Christian population in Wales, including parts of Cardiff, the Vale of Glamorgan and some of the Valleys.

Bishop Mary was one of the first women to be ordained as a priest in the Church in Wales in 1997. Since then she has served a number of clerical posts in all corners of the country. For the past twenty years she’s worked in the north, in both the St Asaph and Bangor dioceses where she’s held a number of senior roles. Five years ago she was appointed Archdeacon of Bangor and then almost twelve months ago was made the Assistant Bishop there. Bishop Mary’s voice is familiar to many listeners in Wales; in the past she’s also presented a number of All Things Considered programmes.

In the first radio interview since her election, Bishop Mary talks to Azim about her early life and career, about relationships with non-Christian faiths, young people, and the role of a bishop, not least in speaking out on topical issues, of which in her view, the biggest is concern about the environment.