Martin Pendergast

Martin Pendergast is chair of the Centre for the Study of Christianity and Sexuality.

He has theology degrees from Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University and Bristol University. He is a qualified social worker, having managed Child and Family social work at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, where he specialised in assessment and treatment of child sexual abuse and also developed some of the first social services for people with HIV/AIDS.

He is a Trustee of NAM/AIDSMAP and also Executive Secretary of Catholics for AIDS Prevention & Support. He was a founder member of the Roman Catholic Caucus of the Lesbian & Gay Christian Movement and also of the Cutting Edge Consortium.

He contributes regularly to the "Comment is Free" column in The Guardian, particularly on issues of faith and sexuality.He is also active in the Soho Masses LGBT Catholic community.

He was a member of the Catholic Bishops Conference Social Welfare Committee, and a faith-advisory member of the Government’s Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy for five years. He has worked on sex and relationships education in a variety of Catholic settings.