Guli Francis-Dehqani

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Isfahan Province, Pahlavi Iran
NationalityIranian-British
DenominationAnglicanism
ParentsHassan Dehqani-Tafti & Margaret Thompson
SpouseLee né Francis
Childrenthree
Alma mater
Lord Spiritual)
Assumed office
1 November 2021

Gulnar Eleanor "Guli" Francis-Dehqani (born 18 June 1966) is an Iranian-born British

Anglican bishop who has been Bishop of Chelmsford since 2021. She served as the first Bishop of Loughborough, the suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Leicester
from 2017 to 2021.

Early life and education

Guli Dehqani-Tafti was born in

President Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, 1976–1986. Her mother Margaret was a daughter of William Thompson (Bishop in Iran, 1935–1960). In October 1979, after the Iranian Revolution, her parents were attacked in an assassination attempt which left her mother wounded,[3][4] and her 24-year-old brother, Bahram, was murdered by Iranian government agents in May 1980.[3] When she was 14, her family was forced to leave the country in the wake of the Iranian Revolution;[5] the family settled in Hampshire, where Hassan remained a bishop in exile.[6]

She was educated at

Ordained ministry

Francis-Dehqani was

Permission to Officiate in the Diocese of Peterborough.[1] She also worked at the University of Northampton Multi-Faith Chaplaincy between 2009 and 2010 "helping the chaplaincy team develop a more effective multi-faith approach".[12]

In 2011, Francis-Dehqani returned to full-time ministry, having been appointed Curate Training Officer for the

Episcopal ministry

On 11 July 2017, it was announced that Francis-Dehqani would become the first

consecrated a bishop during a service at Canterbury Cathedral on 30 November 2017.[13][16] This made her the first BAME woman to be made a bishop in the Church of England.[17]

It was announced on 17 December 2020 that Francis-Dehqani was to translate to Chelmsford in 2021, becoming the diocesan bishop of the

college of canons of Chelmsford Cathedral took place by teleconference on 26 January 2021;[19] the confirmation of her election, by which she legally took her new see, was on 11 March 2021.[20]

She joined the House of Lords as one of the Lords Spiritual, under the Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 on 1 November 2021.[21] In May 2023, she took part in the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla, one of three female bishops to do so.[22]

Views

In 2023, she was one of 44 Church of England bishops who signed an open letter supporting the use of the Prayers of Love and Faith (i.e. blessings for same-sex couples) and called for "Guidance being issued without delay that includes the removal of all restrictions on clergy entering same-sex civil marriages, and on bishops ordaining and licensing such clergy".[23]

Personal life

She is married to Lee Francis-Dehqani, a fellow Anglican priest and canon: at the time of her appointment as bishop he was serving as Team Rector of

Rural Dean of Rutland and in 2018 was appointed Team Rector of the Fosse Team in Leicester Diocese. Together they have three children.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Gulnar Eleanor (Guli) Francis-Dehqani". Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  2. ^ Cox, Megan (11 July 2017). "First Bishop of Loughborough announced". Loughborough Echo. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  3. ^ a b "The Rt Rev Hassan Dehqani-Tafti, Bishop of Iran who survived an assassination attempt and had to continue his ministry in exile". The Telegraph. 5 May 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
  4. ^ "Unholy War: Assault on Iran's Anglicans". Time. 16 May 1980. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
  5. ^ Mack, Tom (11 July 2017). "Meet the first ever Bishop of Loughborough - and read her incredible story". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Bishop's wife took bullet to save her husband's life | God Reports". blog.godreports.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  7. ^ "OC News: Bishop of Loughborough". OM News: 13. 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2022. Guli Francis-Dehqani nee Dehqani-Tafti (83) has become Bishop of Loughborough making her Clarendon's first UK female Bishop
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h "The Queen has approved the appointment of the Reverend Canon Gulnar Eleanor Francis-Dehqani to the Suffragan See of Loughborough". GOV.UK. Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  9. ^ Francis-Dehqani, Gulnar Eleanor (1999). Religious feminism in an age of empire: CMS women missionaries in Iran, 1869-1934. E-Thesis Online Service (Ph.D). The British Library. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  10. ISSN 0009-658X
    . Retrieved 13 July 2017 – via UK Press Online archives.
  11. . Retrieved 13 July 2017 – via UK Press Online archives.
  12. ^ a b "Revd Dr Guli Francis – Dehqani" (PDF). Diocese of Peterborough. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  13. ^ a b c "Persian woman appointed as first Bishop of Loughborough". Diocese of Leicester. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  14. ^ "Appointments". Church Times. 11 November 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  15. ^ "Iranian-born woman becomes first Bishop of Loughborough". ITV News. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  16. ^ "The Bridge" (newspaper of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark) Vol 22 No 10 p3, December 2017
  17. ^ "First Church of England female bishop from a minority ethnic community". Anglican Communion News Service. Anglican Communion Office. 12 July 2017. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  18. ^ "Next Bishop of Chelmsford announced". Diocese of Chelmsford. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  19. ^ "Chelmsford Cathedral".
  20. ^ "Timetable announced for the start of Bishop Guli's Ministry in Chelmsford Diocese | Chelmsford Diocese".
  21. ^ "Lords Spiritual". The Church of England in Parliament. 26 February 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  22. ^ "Coronation order of service in full". BBC News. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  23. ^ Martin, Francis (1 November 2023). "Don't delay guidance allowing priests to be in same-sex marriages, say 44 bishops". Church Times. Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.