Holy trinity of Catholic mayors lead East Anglian cities

Cllr Marco and Maddalena Cereste with Bishop Peter Collins at the One Mass in Peterborough Cathedral. Image: Diocese of East Anglia

Source: Diocese of East Anglia

Peterborough City Council has elected Catholic councillor Marco Cereste, as its mayor for the 2024-25 civic year, joining fellow Catholics mayors in both Norwich and Cambridge to make up a holy trinity of civic leaders.

Councillor Marco was elected as the city's first citizen at the annual meeting of Peterborough City Council on May 30, joining Catholic Cllr Baiju Thittala as the new Mayor of Cambridge and St John's Cathedral parishioner and shop supervisor Cllr Vivien Thomas as Lord Mayor of Norwich.

Marco and wife and Mayoress Maddalena, attend Sacred Heart and St Oswalds on Lincoln Road in the city and they were guests of honour recently at the Catholic One Mass at Peterborough Cathedral when all the city parishes joined together to celebrate Mass.

Marco said afterwards: "I am very private about my faith, but I find comfort in it in difficult times and it keeps me sane."

The Mayor's chosen charities that he will support over the next 12 months are Anna's Hope, Cambridgeshire Children's Hospital and the Salvation Army.

Cllr Marco is believed to be the first person of Italian ethnicity to be elected mayor of a British city. He said: "I am absolutely delighted to be elected as Mayor of Peterborough and really looking forward to the unique challenge ahead. I aim to get heavily involved with our amazing communities and attend a wide range of activities and events over the coming year.

"The position of Mayor is critical to fostering a welcoming and friendly culture in the city, and it's an honour to contribute to this long-standing tradition."

Cllr Marco arrived in England in 1953 on Coronation Day and proceeded to have a 25-year-long career with the NHS. He has been a councillor for 20 years, with six of those years spent as Leader of the council and the last six years as a ward councillor for Hampton Vale.

He was Chair of the Italian Community Association for 40 years, with the Italian government awarding him three major honours: in 2001 he was awarded the rank of "Cavaliere" (Italian Knight) and in 2002 he was awarded the rank of "Cavaliere Ufficiale" (Officer Knight) both in the Order of Merit. More recently he was awarded one of Italy's highest honours La Stella Doro Della Soledarieta Italiana, First Class.