Iranian refugee becomes first bishop of Loughborough Church in England
Ms. Gully Francis-Dehghani, who sought refuge in Britain after her brother was murdered in Iran, has been appointed as the first bishop of the famous Loughborough Church in northern England.
The Peterborough Telegraph, Saturday, August 4, reports that Catholic priest Goli Francis-Dehghani will become a bishop at the end of this summer after 13 years of service in Peterborough churches. Born in Isfahan, Goli and his family fled Iran after the Islamic Revolution in 1980 and sought refuge in Britain.
“My father was a converted Muslim,” says Goli, “and our family was part of a small Anglican community. I was the only Christian student in a school that was predominantly Muslim. My identity is actually a mixture of Muslim and Christian; a kind of East-West, or rather Iranian-English. After the Islamic Revolution, the Christian community in the country and our family were particularly threatened by the new government. By that time, my father had become the bishop of the churches in Iran. The events of those days ultimately led to the murder of my 24-year-old brother.
No one was brought to justice for his murder, but we always believed that he was killed because of my father's position and because he was his son. I fled to Britain with the rest of my family when I was 14. Today, 37 years later, I still have my identity and it's fascinating to me how people can feel like they belong to a new society, miles away from where they were born. I am British, but I am also Iranian."
According to the Peterborough Telegraph, in his new role, Bishop Glei Francis-Dehghani will provide humanitarian aid and training to help Christians from ethnic minorities who have sought refuge in Britain find a new life.
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