As newspapers and broadcasting journalists consider the political future of the Prime Minister, some also question whether Tony Blair, an erstwhile member of the Church of England, is planning a change of religious affiliation as well as of career.
Recently Roman Catholic Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor was asked about Mr Blair converting to Catholicism once he leaves office. The interviewer, in The Times newspaper, commented:
‘The cardinal bristled slightly and replied in slow, clipped terms: “I haven’t talked, ever, to Tony Blair about his
conversion. I have chatted to him about religion but I would not talk to him about this unless he wanted to. A person’s religion is a very private matter. Of course he is a public figure, but I would leave it to him and his conscience”.
The interviewer pressed, Does he consider Blair, who attended mass with his family on his latest holiday in Miami, a Catholic in all but name? ‘He goes to mass every Sunday, he has an understanding of the Catholic faith and he is a religious man, so I very much respect him’.
