Geoffrey Graham Dow (born 4 July 1942) is a retired British

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

bishop. He was the

Bishop of Carlisle The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary (officer), Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York. The diocese covers the county of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District. The Episcop ...

from 2000 to 2009, the 66th holder of the office. He is a well-known

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Early life

Born in 1942, in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, London, Dow was educated at St Albans School and

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

Religious appointments

Before his arrival in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

, Dow was the vicar of

Holy Trinity Church, Coventry Holy Trinity Church, Coventry, is a parish church of the Church of England in Coventry, West Midlands, England. Above the chancel arch is an impressive doom wall-painting. History The church dates from the 12th century and is the only medi ...

prior to his appointment as

Bishop of Willesden The Bishop of Willesden is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of London, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Willesden, an area of the London Borough of Brent; the See ...

(an

area bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the Metropolitan ...

ric in the

Diocese of London The Diocese of London forms part of the Church of England's Province of Canterbury in England. It lies directly north of the Thames, covering and all or part of 17 London boroughs. This corresponds almost exactly to the historic county of ...

) in 1992. He was consecrated as bishop on 22 May 1992 at

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

, by

George Carey George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton (born 13 November 1935) is a retired Anglican bishop who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, having previously been the Bishop of Bath and Wells. During his time as archbishop the C ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

. Dow was made the

in 2000 and retired from this position at the end of April 2009.

Position and statements

Dow was one of the rebel bishops who signed a letter against

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet, who served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of W ...

' decision not to block the appointment of

Jeffrey John Jeffrey Philip Hywel John (born 10 February 1953) is a Church of England priest, who served as the Dean of St Albans from 2004 until 2021. He made headlines in 2003 when he was the first person to have openly been in a same-sex relationsh ...

Bishop of Reading The Bishop of Reading is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford, which is within the Province of Canterbury, England. On 27 November 2024, it was announced that the next Bishop of Reading would ...

in 2003. The other diocesan bishop signatories (referred to, since there were nine, as the ''

Nazgûl The Nazgûl (from Black Speech 'ring', and 'wraith, spirit')introduced as Black Riders and also called Ringwraiths, Dark Riders, the Nine Riders, or simply the Nineare fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. They were ni ...

'') were:

Michael Scott-Joynt Michael Charles Scott-Joynt (15 March 1943 – 27 September 2014) was an English bishop and a Prelate of the Order of the Garter. He was appointed Bishop of Winchester, one of the five senior bishoprics in the Church of England, in 1995. He had ...

(

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

), Michael Langrish (

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

), Michael Nazir-Ali ( Rochester), Peter Forster (

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

), James Jones (

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

), George Cassidy ( Southwell & Nottingham), John Hind (

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

) and

David James Dewi, Dai, Dafydd or David James may refer to: Performers *David James (actor, born 1839) (1839–1893), English stage comic and a founder of London's Vaudeville Theatre *David James (actor, born 1967) (born 1967), Australian presenter of ABC's ''P ...

(

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

). In 2005, Dow attracted media attention when he said that a stone in Carlisle inscribed with a 16th-century curse should be removed. The curse was pronounced on the

Border Reivers Border Reivers were Cattle raiding, raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border. They included both Scotland, Scottish and England, English people, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their victims' nationality.Hay, D. "E ...

by the

Archbishop of Glasgow The Archbishop of Glasgow is an archiepiscopal title that takes its name after the city of Glasgow in Scotland. The position and title were abolished by the Church of Scotland in 1689; and, in the Catholic Church, the title was restored by Pop ...

and was inscribed on a stone as part of the city's millennium celebrations. Subsequently, some Carlisle residents blamed disasters, such as an outbreak of

foot-and-mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious disease, infectious and sometimes fatal virus (biology), viral disease that primarily affects even-toed ungulates, including domestic and wild Bovidae, bovids. The vir ...

, flooding and the relegation of the local football team from its league on the presence of the stone. Dow stated that "The original curse was not a godly act. For this reason I have always said that it would be better if the stone were not there" and said he intended to ask the current archbishop of Glasgow, Mario Conti, to come to Carlisle and perform a blessing to remove the curse. Dow's activities have included giving a blessing at the launch of HMS '' Astute'' in

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

on 8 June 2007.

Natural disasters as divine retribution

In July 2007, following widespread storms over parts of the United Kingdom, Dow stated that he believed the resulting flooding (in which several people were killed) was an act of

divine retribution Divine retribution is supernatural punishment of a person, a group of people, or everyone by a deity in response to some action. Many cultures have a story about how a deity imposed punishment on previous inhabitants of their land, causing th ...

, the result of God's "strong and definite judgement" on the "moral degradation" of British society. In particular, he blamed the economic exploitation of poorer nations and the United Kingdom's introduction of laws aimed at reducing discrimination against gay people, notably the proposals to introduce

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

. He stated that "the Sexual Orientation Regulations are part of a general scene of permissiveness. We are in a situation where we are liable for God's judgement." According to an article in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', Dow is a specialist in exorcism, explaining in a leaflet entitled ''Explaining Deliverance'' that "There is a view that both oral and anal sexual practice is liable to allow entry to spirits."

Personal life

Dow is

married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

to Molly and they have four adult children.

References

External links

Diocese of Carlisle website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dow, Graham People educated at St Albans School, Hertfordshire 21st-century Church of England bishops Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford Bishops of Carlisle Bishops of Willesden Evangelical Anglican bishops 1942 births Living people Staff of St John's College, Nottingham