Michael Nazir-Ali

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Michael Nazir-Ali is the former Church of England Bishop of Rochester.[1]

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.[2]

In Pakistan, Nazir-Ali taught at Karachi Theological College, wokred as a parish priest in a poor urban area, became Provost of Lahore Cathedral and was consecrated the first Bishop of Raiwind.[3]

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.[4]

Nazir-Ali was General Secretary of CMS from 1989 to 1994.[5]

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.[6]

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.[7]

In July 2009, Nazir-Ali told the Sunday Telegraph that homosexuals should 'repent and be changed'.[8]

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".[9]


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."[10]

Affiliations

External Resources

Notes

  1. The Rt Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, Diosece of Rochester, accessed 15 February 2010.
  2. Bishop Michael J Nazir-Ali, Diocese of Rochester, accessed 15 February 2010.
  3. Bishop Michael J Nazir-Ali, Diocese of Rochester, accessed 15 February 2010.
  4. Bishop Michael J Nazir-Ali, Diocese of Rochester, accessed 15 February 2010.
  5. The Rt Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, Diosece of Rochester, accessed 15 February 2010.
  6. The Rt Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, Diosece of Rochester, accessed 15 February 2010.
  7. Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Michael Nazir-Ali steps down as Bishop of Rochester, telegraph.co.uk, 28 March 2009.
  8. Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Change and repent, bishop tells gays, telegraph.co.uk, 4 July 2009.
  9. Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Change and repent, bishop tells gays, telegraph.co.uk, 4 July 2009.
  10. Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Change and repent, bishop tells gays, telegraph.co.uk, 4 July 2009.