Bishop of Auckland
Bishop Stephen Marmion Lowe, was appointed Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Auckland on 18 December 2021. Bishop Stephen 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 and because there was no Catholic College in Hokitika he completed his secondary schooling 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 and entered Holy Cross College seminary in Mosgiel in 1990. He completed his final year of seminary study at St Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia during 1994-1995. Bishop Stephen Lowe was ordained as a priest for the Diocese of Christchurch in his home town at Hokitika in 1996. He served as the assistant priest in Mairehau, Ashburton and Greymouth parishes before being appointed parish priest of Timaru North. From 2005-2007 he completed a Licence in Spiritual Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He was appointed to Holy Cross Seminary in 2008 where he served as Formation Director until the end of 2014. While based at the Seminary in Auckland, he served, for a time, as Parish Priest in Ponsonby.