Tony Blair & Religion
Tony Blair’s religion became a political issue because of his role in the Northern Ireland peace process.
His critics said the denial of his Roman Catholic beliefs was for political rather than constitutional reasons and that was why he delayed announcing his conversion by the pope until after he had left office.
Blair had been attending Mass (and on some occasions receiving communion) for years before he converted. And it wasn’t just a case of Protestant v non-Protestant.
In England there are very different historical influences associated with being a Jew and a Catholic, and they would be viewed quite differently.
The long antipathy towards Roman Catholicism in England needs to be better understood. England as a nation rejected the power and authority of Rome, then destroyed thousands of Roman Catholic monasteries and churches. Indeed it still has an annual celebration, (Guy Fawkes) celebrating the execution of a small group of Catholics who tried to destroy the Westminster Parliament building.
And he would not have been allowed, as a Roman Catholic, to undertake the role of leader of her majesty’s government since it is the duty of the Prime Minister to prepare and give approval to the short list of Church of England archbishops to be submitted to the sovereign for appointment and attendance in the House of Lords.
caltonjock 
2 replies on “Unionist sniping about anti-Roman Catholic sentiment in the “Claim of Right” is badly misplaced. English policies are much worse”
Ah Tony Blair – a byword for duplicity.
Becoming prime Minister in 1997, Tony Blair, an absolutely talented communicator came in with show much promise. But as we were to find out under the assuring exterior was an absolutely duplicitous individual with the basest of motives.
This piece on Blair’s so called conversion to Roman Catholicism illuminates so much about the man. Partaking of the Eucharist whilst not an admitted Catholic is an absolute indication of this. Putting his career first his spirituality was to deny his faith, but secretly take the sacrament he was not entitled to take, before thereafter being admitted to the church after he had left office.
I make no comment about the theology but for someone who says he believes in the form of the Roman Catholic church but to publicly deny it, whilst breaking church law says it all about the true nature of the man.
But it was not just his duplicitous and dishonest religious beliefs that ultimately shone through from what he presented himself as. He was in truth a bigger privatiser than Margaret Thatcher has ever been. The absolutely huge transfer of infrastructure construction and maintenance into what was called the Private Finance Initiative has absolutely economically soaked a nation in expensive debt whilst saddling the country with poor quality construction.
The privatisation of huge swathes of the public service through outsourcing by private companies is another. HMRC, department of work and pensions are two large examples where companies like Capita now deliver public service. But they were only part of the transfer.
And then the coup de’etat , an utterly illegal genocidal war on Iraq where millions died in the pursuit of American and UK corporate interests. No wonder Blair out of office is with his son and wife now worth hundreds of millions.
But you know CJ, your short piece on his religion reveals all of this. To lie, dissemble, and abuse one’s so called deepest spiritual beliefs says it all. An absolute Baphomet of a man.
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Well said! His net worth is projected to be around £120m and Cheri is no shrinking violet when it comes to making money. And their son is a property millionaire. All off the backs of the workers. The epitome of evil!!
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