British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was recently asked if he is now now a practicing Catholic to which he was reported to quote the Bible to stress his belief in God.
The Christian Post reported that Johnson quoted from the book of Psalms when he was asked by a reporter during the G7 Summit in England if he believes in God in comparison to the British Labour Party's Sir Keir Starmer who professed he doesn't.
"The foolish man has said in his heart there is no God," Johnson quoted Psalm 14:1 in response to the reporter. This can also be found in Psalm 53:1.
The Christian Post pointed out that Johnson previously did not "discuss these deep issues" with the media, citing an incident with ITV Robert Peston. Johnson is known to be a baptized Catholic but was married as an Anglican to his two former wives before his recent marriage, such that he received the criticism of Jesuit Priest Rev. Fr. James Martin, who is popular for his support of the LGBTQ+ community's same-sex union.
"#BorisJohnson, a twice-divorced man, whose girlfriend recently had a baby with him out of wedlock (and who also has another child out of wedlock) was married in a Catholic ceremony in Westminster Cathedral, the seat of English Catholicism. At the same time, a same-sex couple who are both Catholics (unlike Mr. Johnson, who was confirmed as an Anglican) cannot have their civil union blessed even in private by a priest because 'God does not and cannot bless sin...'," Martin said in Twitter during Johnson's wedding at the beginning of this month.
As per Christian Post, Johnson's faith has become controversial recently in Britain being its first Catholic prime minister while in office since he could no longer send Queen Elizabeth the names of bishops that could be appointed to the Church of England.
The Times explained that Johnson can not continue sending the names of new Church of England bishops to Queen Elizabeth for it will endanger him from being removed from his post as prime minister based on the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829. The said ancient law states that no "person professing the Roman Catholic religion" can recommend or advise the appointment of a new bishop to the Church of England.
The times said violation of the said law punishes those "guilty of a high misdemeanor, and disabled for ever from holding any office, civil or military, under the Crown." The ancient law was ratified in 2007 to simply provide names for the said post to be done by the prime minister.
As such, Johnson can no longer do that having professed being a Catholic once more. He has delegated Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland to do this for him instead.
The law provides for this delegation in its No. 10 article that says, "The palace can designate another minister to advise the Queen. The lord chancellor looks like the one to be nominated. It's an incredibly anarchronistic thing that a Jew or a Muslim could nominate a bishop but not a Catholic."
Johnson actually did this last year for the appointment of the Bishop of Chelmsford that brought persecution upon himself along with being criticized for his lockdown rules that included a ban on worship services by Christian leaders. His ban on Christmas gatherings also elicited criticism, most notably from former President Donald Trump.
