How Andy Burnham’s religious roots shaped Britain’s first Catholic-born prime minister

(RNS) — When Andy Burnham began his term as the United Kingdom’s 59 th prime minister on Monday (July 20), he made history — not only for taking office in an unusual way after the resignation of his unpopular predecessor, Sir Keir Starmer, but also for becoming Britain’s first Catholic-born prime minister.

Hundreds of years of restrictions following the English Reformation and institutional bias meant Catholics did not achieve high political offices until relatively recently, and Burnham’s move into the role marks a major shift.

Some may argue former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson beat Burnham to this spot in history. But Blair converted to Roman Catholicism, the faith of his wife and children, after he left office. Many observers speculated that he did not do so earlier because it might have affected delicate negotiations over the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland. Johnson, baptized a Catholic, had left the church for the Church of England.

Burnham has said on several occasions that his values were shaped by his faith, though in 2015, he said he’s “ not particularly religious now.” Back in 2009, he recalled that important influences on him were, in…