Former British prime minister Tony Blair has become a Roman Catholic, church officials said Saturday, ending widespread speculation that he would switch to the faith of his wife and four children.
But as Catholic leaders welcomed Blair into the fold, immediate questions were raised about whether the 54-year-old had now renounced his views on contentious areas like abortion, gay rights and stem-cell research.
A spokesman for the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, said Blair had been “received into full communion with the Catholic Church” at a private mass on Friday night.
Maybe he’ll run for Pope?
Bush and Blair… the 21st Century Crusaders.
I knew there would be some eventual blowback from his hanging out with Chimp Boy.
Blair’s conversion represents quite a stocking stuffer for the Pope this year, while it’s a huge lump of Christmas coal for the Anglican Church.
On another note, kissing the Pope’s ring was a refreshing change for Blair after kissing Bush’s ass for so long.
Too bad Blair has no backbone.
If he had converted while Prime Minister, it would have outed Britain’s medieval restrictions on non-Church of England members from serving as Prime Minister.
And it would have lent moral and intellectual credit to the war against religious extremism.
Merry Christmas! all you heathens!
So, whaddya think? When Bush waltzes out the door – will he go back to being a boozer or start snake-handling?
#4 – On another note, kissing the Pope’s ring was a refreshing change for Blair after kissing Bush’s ass for so long.
😀 Thanks Gary! 😀
It was the other way around, both George and Bill.
Why would he need to change his position on abortion? They restricted it while he was PM.
Is it possible that he has developed an interest in altar boys? Merry Xmas Bill!
#8 Jägermeister, glad you liked it! That’s the only Christmas present I got you this year 😉
Ratzinger has the most sinister of smirks. Real creepy.
This makes sense, since the Church of England isn’t what it used to be. They made Prince Charles apologize for adultery before remarrying, even though their whole reason for existence was so the king could divorce.
Who cares anyway.
What’s with all the Bush/Blair comments? Bush isn’t a Catholic.
And I agree with JPV, who cares.
Also, how creepy does Pope Palpatine look.
#17: Not a religious reference. It’s because in the states Blair was seen to be Bush’s butt boy for such a long time. When we see him, we naturally think of them together, if you know what I mean.
That was cool how they used the same actor in the first trilogy and the later, making him look older in the first, and younger in the second.
Back again. Marvin or Jeb own a publishing company who are funding retranslations both the Bible and the Koran. Ice is falling. The Pope never did have special powers – just a really nice basement and good friends. Good friends, after all, is all that one needs. Hell, as long as one trades the jersey they can take the robe. Personally, this has to do with a witch pricker position.
Who cares want these leaders do after they leave office?! Their only celibrity rest on them being in high office. Most of the world never heard of them, until they took office. And most of the world won’t hear from them again, after they leave. What we should care about, is what did they do while they were put in charge of the public trust? And did they do it, under false pretenses?
With Tony Blair, this sounds more like a case of a “revolving door” religious conversion. He was elected as representing himself as whatever belief system the british public favored most. And that most probably wasn’t Catholicism. But his wife and children were all catholic? And the brits bought it, and made him their PM. But now, six month after leaving office, in time for Christmas, he reveals his new religion. The question is, did he “quid pro quo” his public position for the church? On the other hand, Blair has also had a cosy relationship with Rupert Murdock. So was this an even greater compromise of his position, than his covert religous relationship? What did Blair sell out to the corporate elite? That might be of greater concern, than how he now prays (and to whom).
hmmm… so an ex PM changes from one cult to the other.
And that is called what? News?
But one thing is for sure, I would not trust anybody with the grin of this evil old man in rome. So let’s sing Kirsty McColl’s lines from “fairytale of New York” for the pope. And no beeping please.
pj
Cripes? Yet another Bigoted comment regarding faith. Why is it “cripes?” that Tony Blair has found faith? You guys really are so insecure with this issue.
I welcome him into the fold with open arms. He was a great PM and he’ll make an even better Christian.
And so like nearly all RCs he’ll be a member of a church that he doesn’t really support. eg 80% of American RCs don’t believe in transubstantiation.
Faith is overrated. From Mark Twain: “There are those who scoff at the school boy, calling him frivolous and shallow. Yet it was the school boy who said, Faith is believing what you know ain’t so.”
Nosferatu!
Get a stake and a hammer.
The pope is a vampire
Yup. Put me in the constipation crowd. I don’t give a shit either.