One of two new lead bishops helping to roll out the Church of England's strategy on racial justice has said he hopes the idea will become as widely embedded as the notion of safeguarding has become.

Bishop Arun Arora of Kirstall near Leeds and Bishop Rosemarie Mallet of Croydon have been appointed as the first lead bishops for racial justice.

In 2021 the Church's Anti-Racism Taskforce issued the landmark "From Lament to Action" (FLTA) report which advocated for racial justice in the Church of England.

Its recommendations included increased participation from UK Minority Ethnic (UKME) people across all levels of the Church including leadership, governance and ministry roles.

It also suggested developing programmes that encouraged equality and mandatory anti-racism training for all clergy and lay leaders as well as establishing mentoring programs to support UKME individuals in their vocational journeys within the Church. ​

Speaking about some new resources which are soon to become available and his election to the role Bishop Arora told Premier News:

 "That's going to be available for every church, for every parish...In the way that safeguarding has been embedded in the culture of the church of England, we'd like to see that too with the work around racial justice."

Last year the Church of England published a report detailing its progress in promoting racial justice across its dioceses.

The report entitled "Progress on Racial Justice across the Church of England Dioceses," reviewed how the 42 dioceses responded to the FLTA recommendations made by the Archbishops’ Anti-Racism Taskforce that came following the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.

Since then the UK has experienced a series of race riots in the months of July and August 2024 where an estimated 29 anti-immigration demonstrations and riots took place across 27 towns and cities across the nation.

"One of the things that we'll be rolling out in the coming months will be delivering part of the request of both the Archbishops' commission on racial justice and mentioned in Lament to Action which is around anti-racism training" Bishop Arora told Premier News.

The FLTA report claimed there had been "decades of inaction" on racial justice and set out 47 specific actions across participation, governance, training, education, and young people.

The election of two new lead bishops will oversee those recommendations but Bishops Arora was keen to emphasis that the issue was one for everyone and not just those in leadership.

"When we look at the racial justice officers and those already working for racial justice in the church you already see the rainbow people of God. "

"The fact that the particular parish or diocese that you live in maybe predominantly white is not a reason not to engage in racial justice because it's something that affects us all in a way that sin affects us all."

Both Bishop Arora and Bishop Mallett will also co-chair the new Racial Justice Board and be part of a panel that checks the Church's progress on racial justice.