Since October last year, Robert Flello, formerly the Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent South, has served as chairman of the 150-year-old Catholic Union of Great Britain. For the majority of the time since its inception, it has operated below the radar, continuing with the original aim of its founders in combatting Catholic disability and in its recent history promoting Catholic values in public life. Lately it has made strides towards raising its public profile and with Flello’s appointment they have found somebody who, he says, “shares their commitment to grow the organisation and put it into a position where it was no longer a best-kept secret but something that everybody was aware of”.
While this is being achieved through the benefits derived from the increased exposure of social media, it is paired with a slight change of direction from the new chairman who encourages a greater focus towards the educational. “By that I mean educating parliamentarians about the issues of concern to the laity, particularly the Catholic parliamentarians,” Flello says, “and making sure that they are well sighted about the issues the laity care about. I know from my time there that can be a bit hit and miss.”
This outlook goes both ways, however, because in order to educate the debate appropriately the laity has to be informed enough to understand the issues and implications. “Then we can use that education as a way of persuading and influencing those who have the ability to make changes,” he says.
The Catholic Union doesn’t take it upon itself to lead every debate. In the recent Assisted Dying Bill debate, it was able to make use of the considerable resources of Right to Life UK and in doing so encourage their members to join a “campaign conducted by a full-time organisation that is dedicated to that one purpose”. It is multifaceted in its method. It not only educates but also operates as a platform that brings people together. “We are trying to be an umbrella, a bridge, an education body,” Flello says, “and I think they all fit together in the same space.”
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