enthroned predecessor religion children consecration birth_place title other_post nationality article_title birth_date spouse residence ordination diocese name alma_mater
16 july 2000 david young , bishop of ripon anglican 1 daughter & 2 sons november 1996 , york minster blackburn , lancashire bishop of ripon and leeds bishop of warrington 1996 -- 2000 british john packer
 10 october 1946 barbara jack -lrb- m. 1971 -rrb- hollin house , weetwood 1970 diocese of ripon and leeds john packer keble college , oxford
john packer

john richard packer -lrb- born 10 october 1946 -rrb- is a retired british anglican bishop .
he was the only bishop of ripon and leeds , serving from the renaming of the diocese from ripon in 2000 to its merge into the diocese of leeds in 2014 .
born in blackburn , lancashire , firstly educated in manchester grammar school , packer graduated from keble college , oxford , with a bachelor of arts in modern history in 1967 and from ripon hall , oxford , with a bachelor and a master of arts in theology in 1975 .
packer became a deacon in 1970 and was curate of st helier , in southwark , until 1973 .
ordained as priest in 1971 , he worked in abingdon in berkshire -lrb- and then oxfordshire -rrb- from 1973 to 1977 .
between 1973 and 1975 , he was tutor at ripon hall , and between 1975 and 1977 at ripon college cuddesdon .
in the following , packer was vicar of wath-upon-dearne with adwick-upon-dearne until 1986 , and from 1986 to 1991 team rector at sheffield manor .
he was twice rural dean , firstly of wath from 1983 to 1986 , and secondly of attercliffe in 1990 and 1991 .
until 1996 , he was archdeacon of west cumberland , having been also priest-in-charge in bridekirk in 1995 and 1996 .
packer was suffragan bishop of warrington until 2000 , when he was appointed bishop of ripon and leeds .
in 2006 , he was called to the house of lords as a lord spiritual .
he is the bishops ' parliamentary spokesperson for immigration & asylum ; urban affairs ; and welfare reform .
packer used his maiden speech in the house of lords on 14 december 2006 to criticise the government 's policy on asylum seekers , claiming that under the current policy refugees are being `` made destitute , terrorised and imprisoned '' .
his interest in the asylum issue materialised again in february 2007 when he appealed to the home office to halt the deportation of a woman , aseng nasoba , and her six children back to the democratic republic of congo , saying that he feared for the family 's safety if they were returned to their home country .
in 2012 he was instrumental in defeating the coalition government 's plan to put a cap on benefits given to families , when his amendment to exclude child benefit from the plan was passed in the house of lords .
since 1971 , he has been married to barbara priscilla jack .
they have one daughter and two sons .
