Tony Blair joins Catholic church

[awayinNaeManger]

here

that he had to wait until he wasn't PM anymore. (good lord! am I softening to Blair?? )

Was anyone surprised by this?

Right up there with water is wet, and the Chief Rabbi is Jewish.

I really don't get why he had to wait until he was no longer the PM. Is it because he was the Queen's PM and she isn't a Catholic? Goodness, I don't even know that.

Am I being dense, but why would converting to Catholicism brand you as a nutter ?

he had to wait because it's illegal for the PM to be Catholic. (what century is this??)

I think the legal bar was dropped some time ago.

He might not have thought it polotically expedient, but that is a different thing.

IIRC the only thing that an RC cannot do is be the Monarch

oh wait the BBC says I'm wrong: "There has never been a Roman Catholic prime minister of Britain, although there is no constitutional barrier to such a move."

It is NOT illegal for the PM to be catholic, although he does appoint Anglican Bishops

my mother will be pleased.

I would imagine it was something to do with his involvement in the NI peace process. tricksy thing, politics.

Oh Lord, another reason to lapse out of it... it was bad enough when Anne bleedin' Widdecombe joined!

Oh please! does he also has to worry about school catchments now he is not a PM anymore???

Now, more seriously, as a catholic I can see some of the virtues of the Anglican sure that unfortunately we don't share.... May somebody let me know what are the things an Aglican would crave for in the Catholic church? [serious question, please don't let this thread descend into a catholic bashing, please]

Anglican sure??? I meant Anglican Church

Loads of luvly incense and wacky shrines
(I can say that, i'm RC) (grin)

i mean
(too much communion wine..)

I don't think it comes as any real surprise. Cherie is Catholic and their children have all been baptised as Catholic. It would have made life difficult for him as Prime Minister had he converted earlier because of the situation in Northern Ireland and if I remember there was some controversy about the abortion bill.

DingDong, for that you can convert to Buddism, far more interesting shrines!

No wine I'm affraid though...

shame - I do like their jolly fat tums!

there's no bar to being a catholic pm but to be fair to TB I think life would have been too difficult - it would have been different if he had already been a catholic when he was voted in (at least, I hope it would have been different).

As a catholic myself I despair of this attitude towards us I really do. I mean, all this bad feeling was 700 years ago we need to move on. We really are one of the few groups left in the country that you can actually discriminate against.

Did you know that Prince William can marry a muslim, buddist, 7th day adventist, quaker, anglican, hindu, or rastafarian but he can't marry a catholic? If a member of the royal family wishes to marry a catholic they have to renounce all claim to the throne? Can you believe this when they can marry anyone else. I think it was Prince Michael had to renounce his claim when he married and also the Duchess of Kent when she converted.

I mean shock horror wouldn't it be unbelievably dreadful for the heir to the throne to marry a catholic - not.

Sorry to bang on but this is a real gripe of mine.

I like to blend my lapsed Catholicism with a bit of Buddhism - kind of pick'n'mix

nametaken, it is very silly, but there would have to be some really serious re-jigging legally, given that the monarch is the head of the C of E.

Bring on disestablishment, I say.

If I'd been responsible for the British invasion of Iraq I would fancy a religion with a confessional box aswell.

Hurrah, another Disestablishmentarian, Sue
I feel extremely sad and embarrassed that converting to another Christian faith is still such a big deal for the poor man
MaryAnn, there is still a distressing amount of prejudice against the RC faith in modern Britain, some of which can be seen on threads here occasionally
(for example some of the remarks about Ruth Kelly's membership of Opus Dei)
I know several of my Mn Catholic friends have been very upset by the tone of the discussion at times

I think it's probably because The RC church is probably the only wing on the Christian church that is perceived to have any kind of real power nowadays.

People don't, by and large have a pop at, say, the Methodists, because they're not perceived to be much of a social force any more.

But the RC Church (and especially in the US, evangelicals) are still seen to have some considerable influence over people's lives, which makes them targets for prejudicial pillory.

I don't understand why this is headline news?