Blair will become a Catholic

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Tony Blair is "certain" to become a Roman Catholic shortly after he steps down from office next week, friends of the Prime Minister have told The Independent. They believe it will happen "sooner rather than later".

Mr Blair is likely to discuss his conversion with Pope Benedict XVI, with whom he will hold talks in Rome tomorrow after attending his last summit of European Union leaders in Brussels.

Aides say that in the private one-to-one meeting, he will also discuss his plans to set up a Blair Inter-Faith Foundation aimed at fostering closer links between people from different religions.

There have been persistent rumours that the Prime Minister would convert to Catholicism but Downing Street has always insisted that he remains a member of the Church of England.

Now friends say Mr Blair will formalise his already close affiliation to the Catholic Church. They say his "spiritual guide" in making the decision has been his wife, Cherie. They have brought up their four children as Catholics.

Before he became Prime Minister, Mr Blair regularly took communion with his wife and children at a Catholic church in Islington, north London. He ceased doing so in public after an intervention by the late Cardinal Hume, when he was leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

It is believed that Mr Blair decided to remain an Anglican while he was Prime Minister because of the possible legal and political difficulties of converting while in office.

Although Britain has never had a Catholic prime minister, the church has said there would be no constitutional bar to Mr Blair joining while he was still in office. But some lawyers believe the 1829 Emancipation Act, which granted civil rights to Roman Catholics, may still prevent a Catholic from becoming Prime Minister. It says that no Catholic adviser to the monarch can hold civil or military office.

Some constitutional historians have said a conversion could affect the relationship between church and state. As Prime Minister, Mr Blair makes recommendations to the Queen on the appointment of Church of England bishops - a role that Gordon Brown intends to hand back to the church when he succeeds Mr Blair as part of a raft of constitutional reforms. Church officials say this is a state role rather than a religious one and that the Prime Minister's own affiliations need not be a difficulty.

If he had converted while Prime Minister, Mr Blair might have faced questions about whether his religious views had affected his decisions.

Friends dismissed speculation that Mr Blair would become a deacon, a lay role within the Catholic Church, which would have allowed him to preside over ceremonies including marriage but not communion.

Mr Blair has discussed his conversion with Canon Timothy Russ, the priest whose parish includes Chequers, the Prime Minister's country retreat in Buckinghamshire. The formal process of the switch are understood to be being handled by Father John Walsh, a regular visitor to Chequers. The family stopped going to church after the Iraq war for security reasons but attend private mass.

Father Russ, a critic of the Iraq war, said in a 2004 interview that Mr Blair had asked him: "Can the Prime Minister of Britain be a Catholic?" At the time, the Prime Minister, asked whether he planned to covert, replied: "I am saying no. Don't they run this once a year? I think they do."

Mr Blair is keen to be involved in four issues after he leaves office: inter-faith work to promote dialogue between Christianity, Islam and Judaism; a "serious job" in the Middle East, where the White House has said he may become an envoy; climate change; and Africa. He is expected to carry out speaking engagements.

Some MPs have cast doubts on Mr Blair's ability to act as a go-between for the world's religions because of the Iraq war. His possible Middle East role also raised eyebrows because he was accused of taking a pro-Israeli line during the crisis in Lebanon last summer. But one friend said: "He is keen to do the inter-faith work. That will be a big priority."

As Prime Minister Mr Blair has been cautious about his religious beliefs. As Alastair Campbell, his former director of communications, once famously said: "We don't do God."

By Andrew Grice, Political Editor|22 June 2007

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BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair will travel to the Vatican today to meet the Pope in preparation for his conversion to Catholicism.

Sources in London and Rome said Mr Blair, who leaves office next week, had decided to seek admission to the church.

All that remained uncertain was the timing of the announcement. It was not intended that it should take place in Rome.

According to informed sources, Mr Blair has been readied for this milestone in his spiritual life by a British Royal Air Force chaplain, Father John Walsh, who for the past four years has been quietly slipping into Chequers, the Prime Minister's country residence, to say Mass for the Blair family on Saturday evenings.

Mr Blair has been attending Catholic services for many years, and regularly worshipped at the 5.30pm Saturday service at Westminster Cathedral, London, until security considerations persuaded him to seek a private arrangement.

He turned to Father Michael Seed, a familiar and gregarious figure in Westminster who prepared the Conservative MPs John Gummer and Ann Widdecombe for conversion.

Father Seed became a regular visitor to No. 10, but sources say Mr Blair cast around about four years ago for a more discreet, spiritual counsellor, finding it in the form of Father Walsh.

The chaplain did not answer messages left at his office at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire, eastern England, home of the air force's officer training school.

Mr Blair's attendances at Catholic services over the years have not been without controversy. In 1996 he was upbraided by the then Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Basil Hume, for taking communion at his wife's church in Islington, north London.

Britain has never had a Catholic prime minister, and Mr Blair's lengthy road to conversion is almost certainly as a result of his desire to leave office before taking the final steps.

Religion is a sensitive issue in British politics, particularly in connection to issues such as abortion, contraception, homosexuality and faith schools.

The only things specifically barred to Catholics are marriage to the sovereign or the heir to the throne, or becoming sovereign themselves.

Cherie Blair and the couple's four children are Catholic. Her husband is thought to have attended a Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II in the papal private apartments in the Vatican in 2003 following an official audience. There have been persistent rumours that he received communion from the Polish pontiff on that occasion.

Mr Blair's visit to Rome was confirmed by Vatican sources more than a week ago. The visit would be derailed only if the EU summit were to run into Saturday morning. Diplomatic sources in London said this would be unlikely.

In another clear sign that the Catholic Church in Rome is preparing to welcome the outgoing Prime Minister into the fold, it is planned that he should go directly from his audience with Pope Benedict to a lunch hosted by the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, at the Venerable English College in Rome. He will be the first serving prime minister to set foot in the college.

John Hooper, Rome|June 23, 2007

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Tony Blair's support for abortion could derail his plans to convert to Roman Catholicism, prominent members of the church have warned.

They said his parliamentary votes in favour of terminations at up to 24 weeks were "totally unacceptable".

And they insisted that the Prime Minister must prove he has renounced his liberal views before being accepted into their church.

Mr Blair is scheduled to have a private meeting with the Pope at the Vatican, provided the EU summit in Brussels does not overrun.

Sources in Rome suggest he hopes to raise the subject of his intended conversion.

Mr Blair's plan to switch from the Church of England has been an open secret for years. His wife Cherie is a Catholic and their four children have all been brought up in the faith. When he quits Downing Street next week, Mr Blair is expected to begin his spiritual journey under the guidance of Father John Walsh.

The Royal Air Force chaplain has been saying mass at Chequers for the past four years.

However, one senior Catholic priest told the Mail: "There will be an out and out scandal if he is received into the church without making a public pronouncement that he has changed his mind on such issues as abortion, embryo research and civil partnerships for homosexuals.

"He must accept the teachings of the Catholic Church in their entirety.

"He can't just ignore the bits that don't suit him or cross his fingers behind his back when he is received into the church."

Damian Thompson, editor in chief of the Catholic Herald newspaper, said: "There will be substantial Catholic opposition to Blair converting, given the fact that he defended keeping the present time limit on abortion."

Dr William Oddie, a leading Catholic commentator, said: "His personal views seem much closer to Anglicanism than Catholicism, so I think there will be a backlash if he decides to convert.

"It is much harder to get into the Catholic Church than to be born into it. And if he is received into the church he will have to swear that he believes in everything the Catholic Church stands for."

Mr Blair is unlikely to make an official announcement of his decision to convert because it would raise questions as to why he had not acted on his convictions sooner.

Father Walsh is understood to have agreed to prepare him to be received into the church, which usually happens around Easter.

As long ago as 1996, Mr Blair was taking communion at Catholic ceremonies, until the then Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Basil Hume, told him not to.

Mr Blair's reported response - "I wonder what Jesus would have made of it" - was cited by some Catholics as evidence of his "total lack of understanding" of the ways of their church.

By GORDON RAYNER|22nd June
2007

Blair tight-lipped on Catholic conversion rumours

Blair's conversion 'unresolved'

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Blair meets with pope in farewell visit | Chron.com - Houston ChronicleVATICAN CITY — The Vatican on Saturday bid farewell to Tony Blair as British prime minister, wishing him well on what it said were his plans to work for Middle East peace and interreligious dialogue.

Blair held long talks with Pope Benedict XVI, with the Vatican stop on his farewell tour fueling rumors that he plans to convert to Catholicism. The two men met privately for 25 minutes and then were joined for further talks by English Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor.

A Vatican press office called the audience a normal meeting between the pope and a government leader. Blair leaves office on Wednesday.

The statement, issued after the talks with Benedict and a separate meeting with Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said there was a "frank" assessment of the international situation, including such "delicate" themes as the Middle East conflict and the future of the European Union.

The Vatican opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which Blair has supported.

The statement said that best wishes were expressed for Blair's future, saying that he has expressed the desire "to dedicate himself in a particular way for peace in the Middle East and for interreligious dialogue."

Earlier this week, it was suggested that President Bush, a close ally, wants Blair to take the job of Middle East envoy for the Quartet of peacemakers — the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia. Downing Street has refused comment on the reports.

Greeted by Benedict, Blair explained that he had just arrived from an EU summit in Brussels.

"I heard it was very successful," Benedict said.

"Yes, we had a very long night. We finished up at 5:30 in the morning," Blair replied.

In an interview with The Times of London, Blair said Saturday the issue of his religious beliefs was complex and that he was nervous about discussing his faith with the pope.

"It's difficult with some of these things," Blair told the newspaper. "Things aren't always as resolved as they might be."

As for reports that Blair is on the verge of formally converting, a spokesman for the prime minister repeated the official line that "he remains a member of the Church of England."

Blair, his wife and children met Benedict in a private, hour-long audience a year ago. He also met with Pope John Paul II in 2003.

Blair's wife Cherie is Roman Catholic, the couple's children have attended Catholic schools and Blair habitually attends Catholic rather than Anglican services.

By VICTOR L. SIMPSON Associated Press Writer|June 23, 2007, 7:17AM

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In public the Pope and Tony Blair were all smiles, but the meeting was reportedly more frank and frosty

Tony Blair received a tough dressing down from Pope Benedict XVI during his audience with the pontiff yesterday, not only over the war in Iraq but also over legislation passed during Mr Blair's ten years in power on abortion, gay adoption and stem cell research.

Some newspapers at the end of last week carried reports predicting that Mr Blair would convert to Roman Catholicism after leaving office and that the Pope would give the conversion his blessing during their farewell meeting at the Vatican on Saturday.

However the Vatican said after the meeting that the pontiff and Mr Blair had had a "frank exchange" on "particularly delicate subjects", which is Vatican-speak for downright disagreement. Italian reports said the Pope had criticised UK laws allowing greater stem cell research on human embryos, easy access to abortion, same-sex marriages, and adoption by gay couples.

Today, the Pope made an enigmatic reference to "true conversion" in his midday Angelus prayers. Addressing English speaking pilgrims on St Peter's Square he said: "Today, as the Church celebrates the birth of St John the Baptist, let us ask for the gift of true conversion and growth in holiness, so that our lives will prepare a way for the Lord and hasten the coming of His Kingdom."

During the public part of the encounter the Pope and Mr Blair were all smiles yesterday. The Pope wished Mr Blair well on his plans to work for Middle East peace and inter-faith dialogue. The two men met privately for 25 minutes and then - in an unusual gesture - were joined by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster.

A Vatican communiqué made no mention of conversion but described the audience as "a normal meeting between the Pope and a government leader."

The Vatican statement, issued after the talks with the Pope Benedict and a separate meeting with Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said there was a "frank" assessment of the international situation, including such "delicate" themes as the Middle East conflict and the future of the European Union.

This referred to the deep Vatican opposition to the war in Iraq, first expressed to Mr Blair by the late John Paul II and reiterated since. It also referred to Pope Benedict's disappointment over Mr Blair's failure to back the Vatican's campaign to have a reference to Europe's Christian roots and values inserted into the EU Constitution.

In an interview with The Times published on Saturday Mr Blair admitted the issue of his religious beliefs was complex and that he was nervous about discussing his faith with the Pope. "It's difficult with some of these things," Mr Blair said. "Things aren't always as resolved as they might be." A spokesman for the Prime Minister repeated the official line that "he remains a member of the Church of England."

Cherie Blair is Roman Catholic, the couple's children have attended Catholic schools and Mr Blair has for years regularly attended Catholic services. He is reliably said to have received Communion at the hands of John Paul II in the papal chapel.

Some commentators saw the fact that the Blairs gave Pope Benedict three period photographs of Cardinal John Henry Newman, a famous nineteenth century British convert to Catholicism, as a symbolic gesture signalling Mr Blair's own imminent conversion.

On the other hand Vatican sources point out that as a young theology student at Freising the Pope made a special study of Cardinal Newman, writing his doctorate on Newman's theology of conscience, and has supported moves to make him a saint.

Last month May Father Michael Seed, a Westminster priest close to the Blairs, predicted that Mr Blair would become a Catholic. But he later told The Times he did not know if Mr Blair would ever be received "formally" into the Roman Catholic Church.

There has never been a Catholic Prime Minister in Britain, and Mr Blair would have been aware that to convert could have been at odds with his role in choosing Church of England bishops.

The official entourage included Francis Campbell, the British Ambassador to the Holy See, Lady Carla Powell, the Italian born sister-in-law of Mr Blair's chief- of-staff Jonathan Powell, and - mysteriously - the French billionaire businessman Bernard Arnault, head of the luxury goods firm LVMH, who is a Catholic.

Four years ago Mr Blair was given a dressing down by Pope John Paul II, who warned him not to invade Iraq. The Vatican feels that events since the late Pope's views were brushed aside have proved him right.

Richard Owen, of The Times, in Rome|June 24, 2007

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THE Pope dashed Tony Blair's hopes of a warm welcome to Catholicism - telling him: "Miracles are hard to come by in Britain."

The pontiff made the remark as the pair discussed the possibility of the philosopher Cardinal Newman becoming a saint.

But insiders said it was clearly intended as a putdown to Blair after a frosty 25-minute audience.

The outgoing PM presented the Pope with a framed set of antique paintings of Cardinal Newman, who left the Church of England for that of Rome in 1845.

It was an obvious reference to the PM's own desire to follow his wife and four children into the church.

But the two men disagreed over several topics during the audience, chiefly Iraq.

In a statement, the Vatican said their discussions had been a "frank confrontation".

As he handed over the paintings of Cardinal Newman, who is being considered for beatification, Blair told the Pope: "I believe you are very familiar with him and he is on the journey to sainthood."

Benedict replied: "Yes, yes, although it is taking some time - miracles are hard to come by in Britain."

Although he has formally remained within the Church of England, Blair has attended Mass for many years.

Meanwhile, Blair will continue his farewells by saying goodbye to movie star turned Govenor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger at Downing Street today.

Dailyrecord.co.uk|25 June 2007

Blair treads an awkward road to Rome