He's gonna have some problems what with the Church saying the Iraq War was an abomination that called for divine punishment and all.
--- Rick Kisséll <rick at kissell.org> wrote:
>
>
>
> Tony Blair joins Catholic Church
>
>
>
> Former Prime
> Minister Tony Blair has left the Anglican Church to
> become a Roman Catholic.
>
>
> His wife and children are
> already Catholic and there had been speculation he
> would convert after leaving office.
>
>
> Cardinal Cormac Murphy
> O'Connor, who led the service to welcome Mr Blair,
> said he was "very glad" to do so.
>
>
> But ex-Tory minister Ann Widdecombe - herself a
> Catholic convert - said Mr Blair's voting record as
> an MP had often "gone against church teaching".
>
>
> Last year, Mr Blair, who is now
> a Middle East peace envoy, said he had prayed to God
> when deciding whether or not to send UK troops into
> Iraq.
>
>
> And one of Mr Blair's final official trips while
> prime minister was a visit to the Vatican in June
> where he met Pope Benedict XVI.
>
>
>
> 'Regular worshipper'
>
>
> Mr Blair was received into
> full communion with the Catholic Church during Mass
> at Archbishop's House, Westminster, on Friday.
>
>
>
> Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, who is the head of
> Catholics in England and Wales, said: "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 programme 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."
>
>
> Chief Vatican spokesman
> Federico Lombardi said the Catholic church in Rome
> shared Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor's "satisfaction".
>
>
> "The choice of joining the Catholic church made by
> such an authoritative personality can only arouse
> joy and respect," Fr Lombardi added.
>
>
> BBC correspondent David Willey said it had been no
> secret in Rome that Mr Blair had been taking
> instruction from a Catholic priest as a prelude to
> conversion.
>
>
> He added that the Pope was informed of Mr Blair's
> intentions prior to his visit to the Vatican in June
> 2007, shortly before he left office.
>
>
> The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams,
> leader of the Anglican church, wished the former
> prime minister well in his spiritual journey.
>
>
> He said: "Tony Blair has my
> prayers and good wishes as he takes this step in his
> Christian pilgrimage."
>
>
>
> Northern Ireland
>
>
>
> Downing Street confirmed the prime minister had
> converted, but said it was a private matter and it
> would not comment further.
>
>
> But the former Conservative government minister,
> Ann Widdicombe, who became a Catholic in 1993, told
> the BBC Mr Blair's move raised some questions.
>
>
> "If you look at Tony Blair's voting record in the
> House of Commons, he's gone against Church teaching
> on more than one occasion. On things, for example,
> like abortion," she said.
>
>
> "My question would be, 'has
> he changed his mind on that?'"
>
>
> But Mr Blair's biographer, Anthony Seldon, said the
> former prime minister's faith had always been a
> major influence on his politics.
>
>
> Mr Seldon said: "He's a profoundly religious
> figure. Religion brought him into politics in the
> first place, not reading Labour Party history.
>
>
> "Catholicism has been the religion of his wife -
> Cherie Blair has been incredibly important to him
> throughout his political life, encouraging him to go
> into politics and adopting many of his positions, so
> I think it was the obvious part of the Christian
> faith for him to come into."
>
>
>
> Northern Ireland
>
>
> There has never been a
> Roman Catholic prime minister of Britain, although
> there is no constitutional barrier to such a move.
>
>
> However, it had in the past been suggested that Mr
> Blair would wait until after leaving office, to
> avoid possible clashes such as over his role in
> appointing Church of England bishops.
>
>
> Catherine Pepinster, editor of Catholic magazine
> The Tablet, said the news was not quite the same as
> if Mr Blair had changed Churches while still prime
> minister.
>
>
> "I understand that one of the issues he was
> concerned with, because he was so closely involved
> in negotiations over peace in Northern Ireland, that
> perhaps some people there might have been
> uncomfortable with the prime minister converting to
> Catholicism at such a time.
>
>
> "This situation is different. Although he remains a
> public figure now, and clearly has a role to play in
> the Middle East, it isn't perhaps quite the same."
>
>
>
> 'Nutter' fear
>
>
> Mr Blair's ex-spokesman, Alastair Campbell, once
> famously told reporters "We don't do God". But
> reacting to news of Mr Blair's conversion, Mr
> Campbell said: "I can't say it surprises me at all.
> His faith does matter an awful lot to him.
>
>
> "It's something I suspect
> he probably felt he couldn't do when he was prime
> minister and he's done it now."
>
>
> Mr Blair last year told
> ITV1 chat show host Michael Parkinson he had prayed
> while deciding whether to send troops into Iraq.
>
>
> "In the end, there is a judgement that, I think if
> you have faith about these things, you realise that
> judgement is made by other people... and if you
> believe in God, it's made by God as well," he said.
>
>
> And earlier this year, he told the BBC that he had
> avoided talking about his religious views while in
> office for fear of being labelled "a nutter".
>
>
> The news of his conversion comes as a document
> showed Mr Blair had raised "concern" over ongoing
> business negotiations in a letter about an
> investigation into a Saudi arms deal.
>
>
> Days later the probe was dropped, and Mr Blair said
> the decision to stop it was taken because of
> national security, and was not linked to commercial
> interests.
>
>
>
> Story from BBC NEWS:
>
>
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/7157409.stm
>
>
> Published: 2007/12/22 17:06:14 GMT
>
>
> © BBC MMVII
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