Rev. Rory T. Conley, a native of Wheaton, Maryland, was born in 1956, the sixth of eight children of Herbert L. and Joan W. Conley. Father Conley grew up in St. Andrew’s parish in Silver Spring. After graduation from Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in 1974, Father Conley attended the University of Maryland. Father Conley worked for the Federal Election Commission in Washington for three years before beginning the pre-Theology program at Borromeo Seminary in Cleveland in 1983. From 1985 until 1989 Father Conley was a seminarian at the Pontifical North American College in Rome where in 1989 he completed a Master’s degree in Dogmatic Theology at the University of St. Thomas (the Angelicum). Father Conley was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Washington on June 24, 1989. From 1989 until 1993 he was an Associate Pastor at St. Mark’s church in Hyattsville while pursuing part time studies in Church History at the Catholic University of America. From 1993 until 1995 Father Conley was assigned to Mount Calvary parish in Forestville, Maryland. In July 1995 Father Conley was assigned to serve as an Associate Pastor at St. Catherine Laboure in Wheaton.

After completion of his studies, Father Conley was awarded a Doctoral degree in Church History from the Catholic University of America in 1996. Since that time he has published two books and numerous articles on subjects related to the history of the Catholic Church in the United States. From 1993 until 1996 he served as president of the Catholic Historical Society of Washington. Father Conley was editor of the Society’s quarterly Newsletter from 1996-2005. Father Conley was appointed Historian for the Archdiocese of Washington in 1999. In addition to his involvement with the Catholic Historical Society of Washington, Fr. Conley also serves on the Board of Directors of the St. Mary’s County Historical Society.

Fr. Conley has taught Church History in the Permanent Diaconate Program since 1998.

Father Conley was named pastor of St. Aloysius parish in Leonardtown in March 1999 where he served until being named pastor of St. John Neumann parish in Gaithersburg in 2005.

On July 15, 2009 Fr. Conley took up his duties as pastor of St. Mary’s parish in Bryantown.