Catholic Convert

Tony Blair has converted to Catholicism

Tony Blair's conversion was widely anticipated.

The former prime minister joined the faith at a service in a chapel in Westminster last night.
Rumours about his impending decision had intensified following his meeting with the Pope during the summer.

Mr Blair's four children were brought up as Catholics and he has attended Mass at Westminster Cathedral with his family and, on occasion for security reasons, in Downing Street.

Three years ago his parish priest at Chequers, Fr Timothy Russ, disclosed that Mr Blair had discussed becoming a Catholic with him.

But Fr Russ added that Mr Blair, whose views on a range of issues from abortion to stem cell research are at odds with traditional Church teaching, had "some way to go" on important moral issues.

In a book, Fr Russ also revealed that Mr Blair even discussed the possibility of becoming a Catholic deacon, a position below that of a priest that can be held by lay people.

In 1996, Cardinal Basil Hume, the late Archbishop of Westminster, wrote to him demanding that he should cease taking Communion at his wife's church in Islington.

Mr Blair made clear that he did not agree, asking in a letter to Cardinal Hume: "I wonder what Jesus would have made of it."

Rejoice at Blair's conversion
By Catherine Pepinster

Speak to people who have been received into the Catholic Church and the comment they make is nearly always the same: “I feel as if I have come home”.

People don’t choose to become Catholics lightly.

It is usually something they have thought about for a very long time – I’ve come across people who’ve made the move after as long as 20 years of contemplating the step – and they are encouraged by the Church to reflect, pray, and learn about the faith.

And it would seem that Tony Blair has come to Catholicism slowly, getting to know the Church through his wife, his children, through friends and colleagues.

His reception into the Church on Friday evening will have taken place after months of more formal instruction from priests responsible for his spiritual formation.

Mr Blair’s conversion is certainly something that the media have talked about for a long time. And that interest is very telling.

For despite there being around a million Mass-going Catholics in Britain, plenty of them in public life (Shirley Williams, Chris Patten, Ruth Kelly, Baroness Scotland, Charles Kennedy, to name but a few of Mr Blair’s fellow Catholic politicians) and warm relations between the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian denominations, there is still a view in the media that Catholicism is exotic and different.

But when a former Prime Minister becomes a Catholic, that must be a sign that Roman Catholicism really has come in from the cold in this country.

I would hope that my fellow Catholics will welcome Tony Blair into the Church, just as they welcome other converts.

That someone shares your faith is a moment for joy, but not for unseemly triumphalism.
There may be some, though, within the Catholic Church, who will not acknowledge this reception with graciousness, pointing to Mr Blair’s voting record on issues such as abortion.
Mr Blair, no longer an MP and having said during his reception: “I believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church believes, teaches and proclaims to be revealed by God”, may of course take a different view today as to what he believes and accepts on controversial life issues.
This is not to say that the Catholic Church should, or does, operate its own whip on certain ethical issues.

Politicians, including those such as a Middle East negotiator, have to act according to their conscience and negotiate the tricky path between their own beliefs and their work in the public arena.

And yet, all of us who are Catholics are encouraged to realise that your belief is not parked to one side when you are not at Mass.

Life and faith are a seamless robe. As he prepares for Christmas, a new Catholic, meditating on the Incarnation, I have no doubt that Mr Blair will feel profound happiness at the step he has taken.

And I would imagine that this year, if he sings like so many of us, the beautiful carol In The Bleak Midwinter, its final lines:

"If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb/If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part/Yet what can I give Him; give my heart", will mean more to him than they have ever done before.

Catherine Pepinster is editor of the Catholic weekly, The Tablet

Tony Blair the Catholic: what happened?
by Damian Thompson

Yesterday the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster received into the Catholic Church a politician who consistently voted in favour of abortion and, as Prime Minister, refused to countenance any reduction in the time limit for “terminations”. In the eyes of the Church, he has the blood of innocents on his hands.

Don’t ask me for an explanation: I simply don’t understand. Has Tony Blair changed his mind about abortion? If so, why has he not said so publicly?

I repeat: I do not understand what has happened. Can anyone enlighten me?