A few years ago, as head of government, Mr Blair gave an opinion on Prince Charles' marriage to a Catholic. The issue regarded the technicality that should Charles ever become King, he would be in charge of the Anglican Church.
There is not that much difference between the two churches. Both churches agree on all the important aspects of religion. They diverge only on the way they worship. Catholics tend to prefer to show devotion, Protestants prefer to eschew Idol worship, in favor of showing faith through good works.
The truth is, however, that the faithless left tend to make decisions that affect all. I believe the NY Jews call it chutzpah.
Ex-PM Blair converts to Catholicism
ReplyDeletefrom news.com.au
FORMER British prime minister Tony Blair has converted to Roman Catholicism, his spokesman said.
The spokesman confirmed British media reports that the 54-year-old politician converted during a weekend ceremony in central London.
Blair's conversion from Anglicanism to the faith of his wife, Cherie, and four children, had been widely expected. A report in The Tablet Catholic newspaper on November 9 said the ceremony would take place "within weeks".
There had been frequent speculation during his 10 years as prime minister, which ended on June 27 this year, that he would convert after stepping down.
One of Blair's last acts as premier was to visit Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, which fuelled rumours that a switch in faith was imminent.
A spokesman for the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, confirmed that Blair had been "received into full communion with the Catholic Church".
Murphy O'Connor, who took the ceremony at Archbishop's House in central London, said in a statement: "I am very glad to welcome Tony Blair into the Catholic Church.
"For a long time he has been a regular worshipper at Mass with his family and in recent months he has been following a program of formation to prepare for his reception into full communion.
"My prayers are with him, his wife and family at this joyful moment in their journey of faith together."
The leader of the worldwide Anglican communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, wished Blair well.
"A great Catholic writer of the last century said that the only reason for moving from one Christian family to another was to deepen one's relationship with God," he said.
"I pray that this will be the result of Tony Blair's decision in his personal life."
The extent of Blair's religious faith and how far it influenced his political decision-making was of regular interest in Britain, although his former spokesman, Alastair Campbell, once told reporters: "We don't do God".
Blair was once asked by an interviewer whether he prayed with US President George W. Bush and appeared to suggest in another interview that he would be judged by a higher power for his controversial backing of the 2003 Iraq war.
He was known to carry a Bible with him wherever he went and attended Sunday church services even on overseas trips.
It had been claimed that Blair wanted to convert sooner, but that could have affected his position in delicate negotiations between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland.
Conversion could also have put Blair at odds with his government's stance on stem-cell research, abortion and gay rights as well as raised questions about the prime minister's role in appointing Church of England bishops.
In a recent three-part BBC television documentary on his premiership, Campbell said Blair "does do God in quite a big way" but both he and his former boss feared overt religiosity would not play well with voters.
Blair told the same programme his faith was a "hugely important" part of his premiership but unlike, for example, the United States, British politicians rarely talked about their religious convictions.
"You talk about it in our own system and, frankly, people do think you're a nutter," he said.
Blair is currently the international community's special envoy to the Middle East.