Great Britain has its 1st Catholic prime minister, to the great surprise of most Britons

Boris Johnson, Carrie Symonds
(Image credit: Rebecca Fulton / Downing Street via Getty Images)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in the office since 2019, "recently came out as Catholic, to the concern of British Catholics, some parish priests, and parliamentarians," and to the surprise of even some of his closest political allies, Catherine Pepinster reports at Religion News Service. Johnson was baptized Roman Catholic, his mother's religion, but was confirmed in the Church of England at Eton and is not generally known to be a churchgoing man.

On May 29, though, Johnson married his longtime girlfriend Carrie Symonds at Westminster Cathedral, the seat of English Catholicism, and the Catholic Diocese of Westminster then declared that husband and wife were both baptized Catholics and Westminster Cathedral parishioners. (Symonds is Johnson's third wife, but they were allowed to wed in the divorce-hostile Catholic Church because Johnson's first two weddings were civil and thus not recognized as valid under canon law, Pepinster explains.) The couple gave their baby son Wilfred a Catholic baptism in September.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.