Catholic peer appointed Faith Minister to the United Kingdom

Lord Lemos of Thornton Heath was appointed to the role on 12 June, as part of his remit as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. He replaces previous faith minister, Nesil Caliskan, Labour MP for Barking.

 “I’m delighted to have been appointed as Minister for Faith, representing the interests of our vast and diverse faith and belief communities and ensuring their voices continue to be heard, celebrated and protected,” said Lord Lemos.

He told The Tablet: “Faith and belief plays such a central role in so many people’s lives, sitting at the heart of communities up and down the country, bringing people together, and working as a force for good.”

 “I look forward to working closely with all of our communities and hearing how we can work together to build a country that truly works for people of all faiths and beliefs,” added Lemos.

Prior to his appointment, he was a government whip from 22 July 2025 until 12 June this year.  A writer on social policy and former chair of English Heritage and the Prison and Probation Service, in 2024 Gerard Lemos published Childhood and Contemporary Catholicism.

The book emerged from in-depth interviews with young people, Catholic priests, nuns, teachers, doctors, psychologists working with children and young people across the world, ranging from Salesian priests in Spain to trainers on safeguarding in Brazil and a Benedictine monk in Israel.

“I wanted to find out … how children and young people saw their lives in relation to Catholic faith, doctrine and practice in contemporary society,” he explains in the book. “Did young people still pray? Did the lives of Catholic saints have any resonance for modern young people?”

Writing about his book in The Tablet in January 2025, Lemos enquired: “Has the abuse crisis torn up the roots of Catholicism?” His research led Lemos to conclude that “Catholicism is still at the centre of many children’s lives” but that “belief and practice has become radically more individual in societies where religious affiliation is not taken for granted”.

“For most young people, God is no longer thought of as an authoritarian figure … Problems arise when powerful adults try to force children to subscribe to false certainties and adults fail to listen to children,” he added.

The son of an Indian family who moved to south London, Lord Lemos mentioned his own experience of abuse by a sacristan when he was a 10-year-old altar boy. “The abuse crisis exposed the shameful truth that, in some circumstances, Catholic priests have used their power and authority to destroy the lives of children,” he observed.

Lemos’ other publications include The Good Prison: Conscience, Crime and Punishment (2014). In 2001, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for services to the British Council. In 2024 he was appointed CBE for services to the Prison and Probation Service.

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