Michael Nazir-Ali
Michael Nazir-Ali is the former Church of England Bishop of Rochester.[1] According to The Times, he is on the "conservative evangelical wing of the Church".[2]
Contents
Early Life
Nazir-Ali was born in Pakistan to Catholic parents.
Nazir-Ali's secondary education was in Pakistan. He read Economics, Sociology and Islamic History at the University of Karachi, and Theology at Fitzwilliam College and Ridley Hall, Cambridge.[3]
In Pakistan, Nazir-Ali taught at Karachi Theological College, worked as a parish priest in a poor urban area, became Provost of Lahore Cathedral and was consecrated the first Bishop of Raiwind.[4] He has said that he faced threats when he was a Bishop in Pakistan.[5] In 1986, the Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie arranged for him to travel to Britain. Subsequently, according to Nazir-Ali, " the reason behind some of the difficulties I was facing was removed when General Zia was killed - unfortunately for him".[6]
In 1986, he joined the staff of the Archbishop of Canterbury to prepare for the 1988 Lambeth Conference, for which he edited the Report and Pastoral Letters.[7]
Nazir-Ali was General Secretary of CMS from 1989 to 1994.[8]
Bishop of Rochester
Nazir-Ali served as Bishop of Rochester from 1994 to 2009. At his appointment he was the first non-white diocesan bishop in the Church of England.[9]
In January 2008, Nazir-Ali wrote a Telegraph article charging that multiculturalism in Britain had facilitated the grwowth of Islamic extremism:
- One of the results of this has been to further alienate the young from the nation in which they were growing up and also to turn already separate communities into "no-go" areas where adherence to this ideology has become a mark of acceptability.[10]
Following these comments, Nazir-Ali was given police protection after his staff received death threats.[11] The article also provoked some tension with the Church hierarchy, according to the Times:
- One senior cleric told The Times yesterday: “The Bishop of Rochester is in effect threatening to undo everything we have done.”
- The cleric said that some congregations in cities such as Leicester, where interfaith work was a priority, were increasingly wary of donating money towards this work. Church leaders in towns with a large Muslim population were anxious that relations with their neighbours were being undermined.[12]
He announced he was stepping down as Bishop to work with the persecuted church in March 2009. According to the Telegraph the decision was unexpected:
- The bishop is aged only 59 and potentially could have stayed in post for another decade.
- He was a leading contender to succeed George Carey as Archbishop of Canterbury, but has become increasingly outspoken at the direction of the Church since Dr Rowan Williams’s appointment.[13]
In July 2009, Nazir-Ali told the Sunday Telegraph that homosexuals should 'repent and be changed'.[14]
The comment came the day before the launch of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, a coalition of evangelical and Anglo-Catholic parishes, backed by Nazir-Ali, which critics claimed was an attempt to create a "church within the church".[15]
Views
On Homosexuality
In July 2009, Nazir-Ali told the Sunday Telegraph:
- "The Bible’s teaching shows that marriage is between a man and a woman. That is the way to express our sexual nature.
- "We welcome homosexuals, we don’t want to exclude people, but we want them to repent and be changed."[16]
Affiliations
- Oxford Centre for Mission Studies - Former director
- Christian Aid - Former board member
- Human Fertilisation and Embyrology Authority - Member and chair of Ethics and Law Committee 1997-20003
- Network for Inter Faith Concerns - Former President
- Crown Appointments Review Group - Theological Consultant 1998-2001
- Board of Mission - Chairman of the Mission Theology Advisory Group 1992-2001
- Standpoint - Contributor
- Centre for Social Cohesion - Advisory Board Member
External Resources
- Standpoint Articles by Michael Nazir-Ali
Notes
- ↑ The Rt Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, Diocese of Rochester, accessed 15 February 2010.
- ↑ Ruth Gledhill, Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, faces death threats,The Times, 2 February 2008.
- ↑ Bishop Michael J Nazir-Ali, Diocese of Rochester, accessed 15 February 2010.
- ↑ Bishop Michael J Nazir-Ali, Diocese of Rochester, accessed 15 February 2010.
- ↑ Ruth Gledhill, Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, faces death threats, The Times, 2 February 2008.
- ↑ Maria Mackay, Interview: Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali on the persecution of Christians, Christian Today, 4 October 2007.
- ↑ Bishop Michael J Nazir-Ali, Diocese of Rochester, accessed 15 February 2010.
- ↑ The Rt Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, Diocese of Rochester, accessed 15 February 2010.
- ↑ The Rt Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, Diosece of Rochester, accessed 15 February 2010.
- ↑ Michael Nazir-Ali, Extremism flourished as UK lost Christianity, telegraph.co.uk, 6 January 2008.
- ↑ Ruth Gledhill, Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, faces death threats,The Times, 2 February 2008.
- ↑ Ruth Gledhill, Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, faces death threats,The Times, 2 February 2008.
- ↑ Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Michael Nazir-Ali steps down as Bishop of Rochester, telegraph.co.uk, 28 March 2009.
- ↑ Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Change and repent, bishop tells gays, telegraph.co.uk, 4 July 2009.
- ↑ Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Change and repent, bishop tells gays, telegraph.co.uk, 4 July 2009.
- ↑ Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Change and repent, bishop tells gays, telegraph.co.uk, 4 July 2009.
