Hassan Dehqani-Tafti

The Right Reverend Hassan Barnaba Dehqani-Tafti (May 14, 1920 - April 29, 2008) was the Anglican Bishop of Iran from 1961 until his retirement in 1990. cite news |first=|last=|title=The Rt Rev Hassan Dehqani-Tafti, Bishop of Iran who survived an assassination attempt and had to continue his ministry in exile |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1918728/The-Rt-Rev-Hassan-Dehqani-Tafti.html|work= The Telegraph |publisher= |date=2008-05-05 |accessdate=2008-05-11] Dehqani-Tafti was the first ethnic Persian to become a Christian bishop of Iran since the 7th century and the Islamic conquest of Persia. (There had been ethnic Armenian and Assyrian bishops in Iran, but no ethnic Iranian bishops up until the 20th century.) However, Dehqani-Tafti spent the last ten years of his episcopate in exile after the Iranian Revolution and an assassination attempt on his life in October 1979, in which his wife, Margaret, was wounded. cite news |first=|last=|title=Unholy War: Assault on Iran's Anglicans |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,951494,00.html|work= Time Magazine |publisher= |date=1980-05-16 |accessdate=2008-05-11] In May 1980, Dehqani-Tafti's 24 year old son, Bahram, was murdered by Iranian government agents.

Early life

Hassan Barnaba Dehqani-Tafti was born in the small village of Taft, which is located near the city of Yazd, in central Iran. His parents, who were both Muslims, were poor. Dehqani-Tafti attended Stuart Memorial College in Isfahan, before moving on to Tehran University where he was trained to become a teacher. He converted to Christianity in Isfahan in 1938 and was soon seen a leader of the growing Christian youth group in the city.

He served as an officer in the Iranian Imperial Army from 1943 until 1945. His knowledge of English led him to become an interpreter for British officials in the Middle East. Following the end of World War II, Dehqani-Tafti worked under English Anglican bishop William Thompson as a layman in the Diocese of Iran for two years.

Bishop of Iran

Dehqani-Tafti decided to become an Anglican priest. He left Iran in 1947 to attend Ridley Hall, Cambridge, a theological college, to prepare for his ordination. After his ordination he returned to Iran and became pastor of St Luke's Anglican Church in Isfahan. He spent ten years at the Isfahan parish and also did some missionary work within Iran. He briefly became pastor of St Paul's Anglican Church in the capital city, Tehran.

However, Dehqani-Tafti did not stay long at St. Paul's. He was appointed the Anglican Bishop of Iran to succeed Bishop William Thompson. (Dehqani-Tafti had married Thompson's daughter in an English-Iranian wedding nine years before his ascension as bishop). Dehqani-Tafti became the first ethnic Iranian Christian bishop of Iran since the 7th Century.

As bishop, he concentrated on the growth of the Anglican education system and schools in Iran. He established Iranian secondary schools for girls and boarding schools for boys.

References

External links

* [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/the-right-rev-hassan-dehqanitafti-exiled-anglican-bishop-in-iran-832817.html The Independent: The Right Rev Hassan Dehqani-Tafti: Exiled Anglican Bishop in Iran]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3918778.ece The Times: The Right Rev Hassan Dehqani-Tafti, The first Persian Anglican bishop who left Iran during the 1979 Revolution after persecution and an attempt to kill him]