>Christian Today is reporting that Tony Blair is converting to Catholicism.
The following is an excerpt to the news release:
Tony Blair will meet Pope Benedict at the Vatican on Saturday to prepare to convert to Roman Catholicism, various newspapers have reported on Friday. Blair, who is currently Anglican, had decided to seek admission to the Catholic Church, according to unidentified sources in London and Rome.
Read the news release by clicking here.
Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
Tag: Catholic Church, Tony Blair
Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament 
>This may well yet turn out to be true though not necessarily to this timescale. This story has, however, emerged on a number of occasions over the last year in the UK, and some have even claimed that Blair is already secretly Catholic. OTOH Blair has never made any secret of the fact that he regularly worships at Mass with his (Catholic) wife and children, and has many times (before it became treated as a public matter) recieved the sacrament with them.
LikeLike
>Doug,Thank you for this information. I have to confess that this was news to me; this was the reason I placed this information on my blog.Claude Mariottini
LikeLike
>Irionically, it would seem, while previous reports in the UK press haven’t reached the US, this particular US report doesn’t seem to have hit the UK news sites as far as I could see when looking at the usual suspects. Doesn’t mean it’s not true.
LikeLike
>Interesting, although not on the BBC! I understand that Blair is supposed to have said that he wouldn’t publicly become a Catholic while still Prime Minister, partly because of the constitutional implications. (If he did, he would be our first Catholic Prime Minister.) But is he now going to jump the gun, if only by a few days? No, my guess is that he will wait until after he steps down and then make an announcement.
LikeLike
>Still nothing on the BBC website, although his forthcoming meeting may be partly why this morning, according to Mark Mardell, he was “more perky than anyone has a right to be at five in the morning.”But, given the allegedly frosty welcome the Pope gave to Bush recently, I wonder how many Hail Marys Blair will be asked to say in penance for his role as a Bush ally especially in Iraq? Probably enough to keep his mouth busy for the rest of his life – and spare us all a programme of speeches!
LikeLike
>There is now a BBC story on this. I hope Blair is in a good state for this meeting straight after his all night session in Brussels. At least he can take a break after Wednesday.
LikeLike
>Surely I am not alone in thinking it odd that a Prime Minister who has engaged in a war which was condemned both by the current Pope and by his predecessor should have an easy entry into the Church. Speaking about the possibility of an invasion of Iraq before his election to the papacy, the then Cardinal Ratzinger said:”All I can do is invite you to read the Catechism, and the conclusion seems obvious to me…the concept of preventive war does not appear in The Catechism of the Catholic Church.” Later he would say: “It should never be the responsibility of just one nation to make decisions for the world.” And following the start of the War, His Future Holiness was unequivocal in his views: “There were not sufficient reasons to unleash a war against Iraq. To say nothing of the fact that, given the new weapons that make possible destructions that go beyond the combatant groups, today we should be asking ourselves if it is still licit to admit the very existence of a ‘just war’.”One might also wonder how Tony Blair managed to explain to His Holiness that it was his Government which tried to force faith schools in England to open up to accept 25% of pupils from other faith backgrounds — a move which was strongly, and successfully, opposed by the Catholic church. Similarly, Tony Blair may find himself in a slightly uncomfortable position if the Pope decides to ask him if he doesn’t think it slightly odd that he should seek entry to the Roman Catholic faith so soon after his Government created civil partnerships between gay couples and, most recently, ignored the Roman Catholic Church’s desperate plea to exempt Roman Catholic adoption agencies from equality laws on gay adoption. More on this on my blog.
LikeLike
>Peter,Thank you for keeping me informed aboutTony Blair’s situation. British politics is very interesting. Most weeks I watch “Questions to the Prime Minister” here on American television, and to be honest, I like Tony Blair. I liked when William Hague was the leader of the Conservative Party because their exchange was always good.Most people here in the USA don’t even know that Blair is becoming a Catholic. To be honest, many people in the USA don’t even know who Blair is.Thank you for all your comments.Claude Mariottini
LikeLike
>Young Fogey, who left a comment about the conversion of Tony Blair, has written a very interesting post on Blair’s visit with the Pope.Visit his blog and read his comment by clicking on the Young Fogey link above.Claude Mariottini
LikeLike
>The story continues to run. More sensible comment on Ruth Gledhill’s blog.
LikeLike
>It would explain why he’s trying to sell the UK out to Catholic Europe…
LikeLike