Once again, our editorial team and advisory board have got together to produce the Herald’s annual UK Catholic Leaders of Today special report. Our criteria, as with previous years, has been “broad church”. Many use their position to do good by example, through philanthropy or by shaping society at community level or through the arts; John Studzinski’s Genesis Foundation is a notable example. Even if they don’t all openly identify as Catholics – and not all are public saints – their lives have invariably been shaped by their Catholic background and faith.
This year we have focused on education, business and philanthropy, law and politics, media, charity, and arts and letters. We have included Lord Spencer of Alresford whose £6.25 million Spencer Building opened at Worth School in April. This cutting-edge building incorporates a new school library, an auditorium and spaces for sixth-form pupils to come together socially, spiritually and intellectually in a pre-university experience.
Other impressive figures include Graham Hutton, whose work with the Order of Malta’s religious care homes deserves special praise, and the Brenninkmeyer family whose philanthropic “mission, vision and values are inspired by the principles of Catholic Social Teaching”, in their own words. As with our recent American top 250 Catholic influencers report, what is clear is that Catholic leadership in the UK is increasingly falling to the laity, not least to members of lay religious orders. Stefan Kaminski, featured in our new Under 40 section, is director of the Christian Heritage Centre at Stonyhurst, which runs the innovative Christian Leadership Formation programme for students. He has restored historic buildings in the grounds of Stonyhurst College to promote education, formation, and preparing young Catholics for public lives of purpose. A patron of this retreat centre is Ilyas Khan, one of Britain’s leading computer-science entrepreneurs whom we interview about the importance of Catholic business leaders in the public square.
We feature politicians and media figures across the political spectrum, from pro-life campaigner and long-standing cross-bench peer Lord Alton to Labour MP Mike Kane (a new addition), who proposed the Amess amendment in parliament to ensure access for Catholic priests to administer the last rites at crime scenes. New additions to our media section are former barrister Laura Perrins, who co-edits The Conservative Woman, and theologian Gavin Ashenden, a former Anglican priest, who presents Merely Catholic, the Herald’s acclaimed podcast.
Inspirational figures from the charity sector are Raymond Friel, prolific author of books on Catholic education and the new(ish) chief executive of Caritas, and Peter Hugh Smith, one of our Catholics of the Year. He is the CEO of investment management company CCLA, the UK’s largest charity fund manager, working with charities, religious organisations and individuals to achieve sustainable returns aligned with their values. We are grateful to CCLA for their continued support and for sponsoring this special report.
Finally, we have a mix of other notable names ranging from former MP Rob Flello, who is now chairman of the Catholic Union of Great Britain, to Fra Max Rumney, the Order of Malta’s new Grand Prior of England. Certain families have multigenerational appearances, such as Orlando Fraser, the new chairman of the Charities Commission appearing alongside his mother Lady Antonia Fraser; and Ed West alongside his mother Mary Kenny.
Finally, we were delighted to interview former chatelaine of Downing Street Cherie Blair about her faith and how her husband Tony Blair was an honorary Catholic during his time in office. We learn that the infamous remark by former spin doctor Alastair Campbell – “We don’t do God” – was in fact far from the truth. Everyone on the list demonstrates again that at a time when public life has become increasingly secularised, religion still has a major role to play in British life.
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