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Posted on 11/09/2007 5:32:04 AM PST by NYer
Tony Blair will convert to Roman Catholicism within weeks when he is received into the church by the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, according to the Catholic magazine the Tablet.
There has been speculation for months that the former prime minister would be received into the church following his resignation from office. A report by the magazine's editor, Catherine Pepinster, says the ceremony will take place during a private mass in the cardinal's official residence behind Westminster Cathedral in Victoria, London.
Mr Blair, now a Middle East peace envoy, was baptised as an Anglican but has been known to be interested in Catholicism for many years. He refrained from conversion earlier because of constitutional sensitivities. The Blair government pursued a number of policies which the church opposed: introducing civil partnerships, authorising stem cell research, extending equality regulations to adoptions by gay couples, failing to restrict abortions and going to war in Iraq. Famously, Mr Blair accepted the advice of his press secretary that "We don't do God," cutting a reference to the Almighty from a prime ministerial broadcast on the eve of the war.
Although there is no bar to a prime minister being a Catholic and both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have had Catholic leaders in recent years, there has never been a Catholic in Number 10. Only the sovereign and heirs to the crown and their spouses are legally barred from membership of the faith because of the Act of Settlement following the Glorious Revolution, which overthrew the last Catholic monarch, James II, in 1688.
Mr Blair's wife Cherie and their four children are Catholic and he himself accompanied them to Sunday mass while in office. Mr Blair also attended mass alone and took communion in the 1980s before being warned off by Cardinal Basil Hume.
(Excerpt) Read more at politics.guardian.co.uk ...
Interesting...this has been rumored for some time.
Should we believe this? I guess you either swallow the Tablet or you don’t.
Man the loony UK Left is going to HATE him now! LOl!
Welcome to the Catholic Church Mr Blair, here is your suit with the big target on it.
Tony Blair quote from early 07
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1921046/posts
To me, the most remarkable thing about the Koran is how progressive it is. I write with great humility as a member of another faith. As an outsider, the Koran strikes me as a reforming book, trying to return Judaism and Christianity to their origins, much as reformers attempted to do with the Christian church centuries later. The Koran is inclusive. It extols science and knowledge and abhors superstition. It is practical and far ahead of its time in attitudes toward marriage, women, and governance.
Under its guidance, the spread of Islam and its dominance over previously Christian or pagan lands were breathtaking. Over centuries, Islam founded an empire and led the world in discovery, art, and culture. The standard-bearers of tolerance in the early Middle Ages were far more likely to be found in Muslim lands than in Christian ones.
Welcome home, Tony.
Well that’s wonderful news! We’ll be sure to add his name on the ‘good’ side of the Pope’s giant book of names. Have to keep track, you know! ;o)
Let’s hope that Blair underwent an epiphany on many moral issues during his RCIA instruction.
Bush creates Muslim envoy post
Jerusalem Post ^ | 6-27-07 | HILARY LEILA KRIEGER
Amid growing criticism that his administration hasn’t focused enough on engagement in the Middle East, US President George W. Bush on Wednesday announced that he would appoint an envoy to an organization of Muslim states and endorsed British Prime Minister Tony Blair as the new Quartet representative. Blair was appointed on Wednesday. (excerpt)
Headlines that come up for Blair on FR -
Launches Interfaith Group, Middle East Envoy, Jerusalem as his home, possible EU president, criticizing Israel’s “Occupation”
Sheesh! Did he get lost on the way to the mosque? An accidental convert?
I think that George Bush will be next.
Or is he becoming Carter light.
George Bush hasn't a clue what it means to be Catholic. I think he'd fit very well alongside Phony Tony.
Beware of George Bush.
You don’t want him “on your side”.
Great news for the Blairs!
I pray that he grows in faith with each passing day.
I hate to break this to him, freemasonry and roman catholicism don’t mix... contrary to modern thought.
How great is that!
Islam established an empire and its rulers exploited that empire. They provided government, and eventually a common language and religion. But for the most part, the other achievements of their empire were the works of their subject peoples.
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