Cllr Chris Whitehouse, who represents the Newport West Ward, has been honoured by the Pope for his work to establish a new Network for Catholic Members of Parliament.
The Councillor, who was made a Knight of Saint Gregory 13 years ago by Pope John Paul II, has now been promoted to the rank of Knight Commander of Saint Gregory by the current Pope, Pope Francis.
The news was announced by the Most Reverend Peter Smith, the Catholic Archbishop of Southwark, who Chairs the Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Christian Responsibility and Citizenship.
Archbishop Smith said:
“I was delighted to hear of the recent Papal Award given to Chris Whitehouse in recognition of his dedicated work on behalf of the Church in respect of Life issues and many other aspects of legislation relevant to the Church. More recently he established the Catholic Legislators’ Network which brings together Parliamentarians from both Houses, which has proved very successful, providing briefings and emotional and spiritual support to our M.P.s and members of the House of Lords. Well done Chris!”
Rob Flello MP (Labour, Stoke on Trent South), who is Convenor of the new Catholic Legislators’ Network, to which Cllr Whitehouse is Secretary, said:
“This Papal Award is so well deserved. Without Chris I don’t know how the Catholic Legislators’ Network and the pro-life work done in Parliament would operate. In addition, Chris’s support for the wider well-being of the Catholic parliamentary community is second to none. My heartfelt congratulations and thanks to him.”
Cllr Whitehouse says:
“The current Pope announced a Year of Mercy which came to an end a few days’ ago. Only in such a Year could an honour of this magnitude be awarded to such a dreadful sinner as me. It is a recognition of the importance of the work of the Catholic Legislators’ Network in Westminster.”
The Catholic Legistors’ Network is open to any Catholic Member of any political party and both Houses of Parliament. It meets to share experience and enable Members to have mutual support in times of great political stress; and it provides opportunities to be briefed by leading experts on current issues of policy.
The award is expected to be formally presented at a special ceremony in the Palace of Westminster in the New Year.
Others to have been awarded the honour in the recent past include media mogul, Rupert Murdoch; Nobel Peace Prize winner the Irish Politician, John Hume; Lord Alton of Liverpool, and the late Sir Matt Busby, who managed Manchester United footoall club for many years.
