Calvin Robinson | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Robinson in 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Church | Nordic Catholic Church (since 2023) Formerly Free Church of England (2022–2023) Church of England (until 2022) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Calvin John Robinson 29 October 1985 Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||
| Denomination | Old Catholicism (since 2023) Formerly Anglicanism (until 2023) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation |
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Ordination history | |||||||||||||||||||
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Calvin John Robinson (born 29 October 1985) is a British Old Catholic cleric, conservative political commentator, writer and broadcaster. Since 2023, he has been a priest in the Nordic Catholic Church, an Old Catholic denomination of high church Lutheran patrimony; from 2022 until his priestly ordination, he had been a deacon in the Free Church of England, a conservative Anglican realignment denomination.[1]
He is a regular contributor to The Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail, Spiked, and First Things.[2][3][4][5] Robinson also featured as a commentator on talkRADIO and formerly presented a regular show on GB News.
Previously, Robinson had worked as a computer science teacher in a secondary school and as a video games journalist.[6][7]
Robinson is of mixed-race heritage. He describes his background as "half Afro-Caribbean and half English.[8][9] His paternal grandparents emigrated from Jamaica as members of the Windrush generation.[10] He was born and grew up in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England, attending High Oakham Primary School, The Brunts Academy, and later West Nottinghamshire College. He then studied at the University of Westminster where he graduated with a degree in computer games design and programming.[11][12]
Robinson was employed in the technology industry before training as a teacher. He taught computer science at the St Mary's and St John's Church of England School in Hendon where he became head of the IT department. In 2017, Robinson was featured in a recruitment advert encouraging people to become teachers.[13][12][14][11] He was a video games journalist and is also owner of the video games site God is a Geek.[15][16]
Between 2019 and 2021, he was a school governor and trustee at the Michaela School in Wembley.[17] In 2020, he was appointed to the Education Sub-committee of the Board of the Royal Academy of Dance;[18] Christian Concern reported on 1 October 2023 that Robinson had been "cancelled" from this role for opposing a drag queen storytelling session and had received an out-of-court settlement.[19] He also became a senior fellow responsible for education policy at the Policy Exchange, a think tank with conservative precepts, but no longer held the position by 2023.[20]
In 2016, Robinson contested the Kilburn ward of Brent Council in by-election as the Conservative Party candidate. He was defeated by the Labour candidate. In 2018 he stood for election to Camden Council in the council's Swiss Cottage ward. He was again defeated by Labour candidates.[21]
Robinson stood in the 2019 general election as the Brexit Party candidate for Broxtowe, but withdrew his candidacy to support the Conservative candidate.[22]
Robinson has also held various positions in right-wing political organisations and campaigns including Defund the BBC, Unite2Leave (a pro-Brexit tactical voting campaign), and Conservative Way Forward.[21] He has contributed to Black Lives Matter UK: An Anthology, a Henry Jackson Society report opposing Black Lives Matter and "hard-left identity politics".[23] Robinson said his commentary has made him the target of racial abuse.[24]
Robinson worked for talkRADIO and as a television presenter on GB News from late 2022.[25][26][27] On 29 September 2023, Robinson was suspended from GB News after speaking out in favour of Laurence Fox, who had recently been suspended for misogynistic comments made about a female journalist.[28][29] Calvin Robinson's dismissal from GB News was announced on 4 October.[30]
Robinson undertook a two-year course of theological studies at St Stephen's House, Oxford from 2020 to 2022, with the hope of being ordained a deacon in the Church of England. However, his application for a curacy within the Diocese of London was unsuccessful.[31] He subsequently submitted a subject access request to the church to understand the decision. This revealed email conversations between Jonathan Baker, the bishop of Fulham, and Rob Wickham, the bishop of Edmonton, raising concerns about Robinson's "libertarian anti-woke, anti-identity politics, Covid-sceptical" political views and his use of social media, particularly Twitter, to disseminate them. The Diocese of London later issued a statement highlighting the "limited number of curacies available", emphasised that vacancies were carefully "considered on a case-by-case basis" and that "in this instance, it is felt that there is no suitable" curacy available that the diocese could offer.[31] Robinson alleged that Sarah Mullally, the bishop of London, had blocked his ordination because of his political views, a claim which Mullally denied.[32]
The decision to deny ordination to Robinson attracted criticism from conservative elements of the media, and within the church, notably Angela Tilby, the canon emerita of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.[33] Robinson described it as a "very narrow-minded" decision that was a result of his “anti-woke” views and criticism of “bleeding-heart liberal vicars”.[31]
Robinson subsequently left the Church of England for the Free Church of England (FCE) where he was ordained as a deacon[34] on 25 June 2022 by bishop Paul Hunt, and appointed minister-in-charge at Christ Church, Harlesden.[35]
On 12 October 2023 the Evening Standard published an article stating that Robinson would soon leave the Free Church of England to seek ordination in the Nordic Catholic Church (NCC), an Old Catholic denomination of high church Lutheran patrimony founded in 1999.[36]
On 4 November 2023, Robinson was ordained to the priesthood by bishop Roald Nikolai Flemestad of the Nordic Catholic Church at St Jude's Church, Balham and celebrated his first Mass.[37] He is currently incardinated in the NCC and under the jurisdiction of Flemestad, who in turn operates under the authority of prime bishop Anthony Mikovsky of the Polish National Catholic Church; both groups are part of the Union of Scranton. Despite this, he continues to serve in Christ Church, Harlesden.[1]
Robinson opposes the teaching of critical race theory in British education and argues that the teaching of black history and lessons concerning black people should be taught within the context of British history and not taught separately.[38][39] He has also defended colonialism and the British Empire, and has opposed reparations for slavery.[40]
In July 2021, Robinson appeared in an interview on Channel 4 News with the singer and left-wing political activist Billy Bragg on the decision of England's football team players to "take the knee" in a protest against racism.[41] He said the action was "disgusting" and argued that, in taking the knee, the team was promoting "Black Lives Matter", which he described as "a neo-Marxist, anti-British, anti-family organisation".[42]
Robinson is a eurosceptic, having stood previously for election as a candidate for the Brexit Party.[citation needed]
In an interview with Premier Christianity, Robinson described himself as an Evangelical Catholic.[43] The Catholic Herald described Robinson as an Evangelical Anglican, but also noted that he shares some high church positions, such as the use of the title "Father", holding a "high" understanding of the Eucharist and of the institution of the church by Christ.[44] According to the Catholic Herald, Robinson considers Michael Nazir-Ali, a former bishop of the Church of England who later converted to the Catholic Church, to be a mentor.[44] Robinson later became a founding member of the Anglo-Catholic Brotherhood of the Holy Trinity.[34][45]
After being ordained to the priesthood, Robinson described himself as an "Old Catholic with Anglican patrimony", stating that he considers the Pope to be a primus inter pares, rejecting papal supremacy over the universal Church, the First and Second Vatican Council and the dogmatic pronouncements of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary, though he personally accepts the second as a pious devotion. He condemned the Protestant reformation as a mistake that divided the Church and stated that he is in favour of Christian unity and ecumenism among orthodox Christians.[1]
He has spoken in favour of disestablishing the Church of England in order to free it from political influence and allow Anglican realignment churches to thrive. Robinson himself was a deacon in the Free Church of England from 2022 to 2023. Robinson is strongly critical of the leadership of the Church of England, accusing it of liberal political bias.[10]
Robinson opposes the ordination of women.[31][32]
He is also opposed to the facilitation of same-sex marriage in the Church of England and has argued that the Bible only allows marriage between a man and a woman. He argues that premarital sex is a sin.[46] He also opposes abortion and holds pro-life positions.[47]