Stephen Marmion Lowe (born 3 August 1962), Catholic priest of Auckland, is the Bishop of Hamilton, New Zealand. He was appointed on 22 November 2014 by Pope Francis to replace Denis Browne, the 2nd Bishop of Hamiton, whose resignation was accepted on the same date. Lowe was ordained Bishop and installed at the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Hamilton on 13 February 2015. [1][2]
Lowe was born in Hokitika, the youngest child of Milly and Frank Lowe, with two older sisters Margaret and Dorothy. He was educated at Hokitika Primary School, then St Mary’s Primary School, Hokitika. He undertook his secondary studies at Westland High School. Following school he worked for the NZ Forest Service in Hokitika and Christchurch and the NZ Timberlands in Timaru. During this time he became involved in his local parish in Timaru North where he was involved in a young adults group and with youth in the parish. In 1989 he discerned the call to priesthood. He attended Holy Cross College in Mosgiel and then the St Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, United States. Lowe was ordained a priest in 7 June 1996 in Hokitika for the Diocese of Christchurch and served as the assistant priest in Mairehau, Ashburton and Greymouth parishes before being appointed parish priest of Timaru North. During the years 2005-2007 he completed a Licenciate in Spiritual Theology in Rome at the Pontifical Gregorian University.[3][4][5][6]
From 2008 until October 2014, Lowe was the director of formation at the National Seminary, Holy Cross College in Ponsonby, Auckland. While based at the Seminary in Auckland, Lowe served, for a time, as Parish Priest of Ponsonby[3][7] Lowe's principal Consecrator was his predecessor, Denis George Browne, Bishop Emeritus of Hamilton and the principal Co-Consecrators were Bishop Barry Philip Jones of Christchurch and Bishop Charles Edward Drennan of Palmerston North[6]
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|style="width:30%;" rowspan="1"|Preceded by
| style="width: 40%; text-align: center;" rowspan="1"| 3rd Bishop of Hamilton
2014?–
| style="width: 30%; text-align: center;" rowspan="1"| Succeeded by
Incumbent
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