British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has met with Pope Francis at the Vatican in what appears to have been a warm encounter between the pontiff and a reportedly irreligious politician but whose earlier life experiences resonate with Catholic social teaching on protecting vulnerable members of society, especially young mothers.
Posting a <a href="https://x.com/AngelaRayner/status/1861763398255383025?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">photo</mark></a> of herself with the Holy Father on social media platform <em>X</em>, the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne said: “I was honoured to be able to greet His Holiness Pope Francis at the Vatican this morning. Pope Francis has shown great leadership on addressing the global issues of our time and building bridges of dialogue among faiths.”
Rayner, 44, identifies as a socialist and as not being religious. However, she has encouraged religious dialogue, recently <a href="https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/rayner-praises-efforts-of-jewish-and-muslim-women-refusing-to-let-gaza-conflict-divide-them/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">praising</mark> </a>the efforts of Jewish and Muslim women striving to ensure that the Gaza conflict does not divide them. She is also the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with one of the ministers reporting to her being the Faith Minister, Lord Khan.
Rayner has spoken of having a tough childhood and <a href="https://www.angelarayner.co.uk/about/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">left school at 16 with no qualifications and already pregnant</mark></a>. Rayner has three sons. When her eldest son had a daughter in 2017, she became a grandmother at the age of 37.
Rayner is only the second woman to hold the office of UK Deputy Prime Minister, after Dame Thérèse Coffey.
She began her career working as a care worker for Stockport Council and became a union representative for her employment sector, later rising to become the most senior elected official of UNISON, one of the two largest trade unions in the UK, for the North West of England.
She has been the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne since 2015 and was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Education in 2016. She replaced Tom Watson as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in 2020 and became Deputy Prime Minister following the 2024 general election.
Whilst both Rayner and Prime Minister Keir Starmer are irreligious – the latter identifying as an atheist –important cabinet positions in the Labour Government have been filled by Christians.
Both David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, and Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, are practising Anglicans. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is a Catholic, while Jonathan Reynolds, the current Secretary of State for Business and Trade, previously served as Chair of Christians on the Left before assuming his position in the Labour government.
<em>The Telegraph</em> has <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/11/27/angela-rayner-meets-pope-vatican/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">speculated</mark></a> that Rayner's visit forms part of an effort by the Deputy Prime Minister to raise her international profile and build links with ministers and public figures from other countries. It notes that the visit follows the appointment of a civil servant reportedly tasked as an international policy adviser to help Raynor build her profile internationally.
Rayner's encounter at the Vatican took place during the Holy Father’s Wednesday general audience on 27 November, during which he <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2024/documents/20241127-udienza-generale.html"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">urged</mark></a> the faithful in attendance to “pray for peace in the Holy Land: Nazareth, Palestine, Israel".
The Pope said: "May there be peace, may there be peace. The people are suffering a lot. Let us pray for peace, all together.”
Rayner has consistently called for a solution to the Israel-Hamas war but drew criticism in January, at the start of this year, for refusing to call for an immediate ceasefire.
<em>Photo: British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner meeting Pope Francis at the Vatican, Vatican City State, 23 November 2024. (Credit: <a href="http://@AngelaRayner"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">@AngelaRayner</mark></a> on X.)</em>
