Blair and Catholicism

[I Am Herenow]

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[Bovril]

I expect there were many factors. One quite amusing one might be that the Pope roundly condemned his invasion of Iraq. Converting whilst still in power might have made him look a little silly.

[GreyFox]

Because all good Englanders are Protestants - the King/Queen must by law be Protestant. I'm not sure if the rule still applies to the PM.

[Yorkshireman]

Because all good Englanders are Protestants - the King/Queen must by law be Protestant. I'm not sure if the rule still applies to the PM.

You don't need to be a protestant anymore to be PM, though we've never had a catholic leader yet. We've had 2 catholic leaders of main parties in recent years, Ian Duncan Smith (Tory) and Charles Kennedy (Libdems) so if they'd won at general elections they would have become prime minister.

This article gives an insight into possibly why Blair waited until he left office to convert.

The only positions specifically barred to Catholics are marriage to the sovereign or heir to the throne, or becoming sovereign themselves, a legacy of the Act of Settlement that followed the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the deposition of the last Catholic monarch, James II; there has never been a Catholic prime minister.

In the last 40 years Catholics have entered many senior positions in British public life, generally without comment except among the wilder fringes of Protestant Calvinism: in the civil service, the Foreign Office and industry, as MPs and ministers in Conservative and Labour cabinets. The current director general of the BBC, Mark Thompson, is a Catholic and, briefly, four years ago, with Charles Kennedy, leader of the Liberal Democrats, and Iain Duncan Smith, leader of the Tories, so were the alternative prime ministers.

But the motives of Catholic politicians have traditionally been regarded with suspicion by non-Catholics, both here and in the US, based on the allegation that they take their orders from the Vatican rather than the electorate. Catholic political leaders have always denied it - but the recent antics of some bishops in the US during the 2004 presidential campaign when they threatened to deny John Kerry communion because of his support for abortion rights and, recently, Cardinal Keith O'Brien's warning that he would do the same in Scotland, have tended to confirm old suspicions.

A number of potentially divisive moral issues would have been much more difficult if Mr Blair had been known to be a Catholic, even though his personal beliefs have not necessarily intruded into the government's decisions.

Ministers have enacted civil partnerships for gay couples and this year faced down demands, particularly from the Catholic church, for exemption from equality provisions enabling gay couples to adopt children, even though the prime minister favoured compromise.

Equally, the government has not attempted to limit abortion rights - an issue regarded as long settled in Britain except by some mainly Catholic groups - or pushed for reduced time limits, even though the church regards abortion as a sin. And it has permitted stem cell research without conceding to Catholic opposition

The criticism of Ruth Kelly when she was education secretary because of her membership of the lay sect Opus Dei - at a time when the novel The Da Vinci Code had made the group more widely known - also showed that the old prejudice could still be deployed. Mr Blair probably thought he could do without the extra hassle.

He has kept his personal religious views largely out of his political life. Ostentatious religiosity does not go down well in Britain. He dropped his wish to end a prime ministerial broadcast on the eve of the Iraq invasion with the words: "God bless" on the advice of Alastair Campbell, who famously told him "We don't do God

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...2/uk.religion1

[Visna]

For a closet-Catholic he has been really good at keeping his religious views out of his policies. For better and for worse, but still nice to see that such leaders can exist.

[Phier]

A Protestant doesn't convert to Catholicism, he simply rejoins the true Chruch.

[Lancy]

Apparently, the PM advises/appoints senior members of the church of england, making it awkward were they not to be anglican, and particularly awkward if they aren't protestant. There's also the roman catholic relief act of 1829 which bars roman catholics from advising the sovereign on religious matters. I think that still applies. It was just easier, and more political (which was always of great importance to princess tony) to convert after office

[VALIS]

Blair is a numbnut. He wanted the church to re-think it's policy on homosexuality, as if they would follow his advice on the matter.

[Icefrisco]

He probably waited because Britain has become fiercely anti-religious in the past few years. Becoming religious in Britain is not cool and would help to ruin his already tarnished reputation.

[Ragabash]

He probably waited because Britain has become fiercely anti-religious in the past few years. Becoming religious in Britain is not cool and would help to ruin his already tarnished reputation.

Yet as long as you are not a white christian, you are very unlikely to possess any political respect or power in the first place.

[manofarms89]

i have never really understood why the taboo of being a Catholic leader in Britain has endured for so long.

[VALIS]

i have never really understood why the taboo of being a Catholic leader in Britain has endured for so long.

We don't need a follower of the whore of babylon and its leader, the anti-christ infecting this glorious country.

[manofarms89]

We don't need a follower of the whore of babylon and its leader, the anti-christ infecting this glorious country.

aside from being more centralized, Catholicism is no different than any other religion.

[CtrlAltDe1337]

aside from being more centralized, Catholicism is no different than any other religion.

Not in the minds of Protestants

You would have to be a Protestant or take a lot of Reformation history to understand.

[manofarms89]

Not in the minds of Protestants

You would have to be a Protestant or take a lot of Reformation history to understand.

i know why i just don't understand why such a smart people like the British are so retarded about a centuries old issue, besides i thought the Anglican Church considered itself both Catholic and Reformed...

[Fiyenyaa]

He dropped his wish to end a prime ministerial broadcast on the eve of the Iraq invasion with the words: "God bless" on the advice of Alastair Campbell, who famously told him "We don't do God"

This is why. People who are very openly and strongly religious are not generally elected to power in the UK. One of the few things that I can say in favour of Blair is that he seemed to keep his religion out of his politics; he's the one who brought in civil partnerships, after all (or they happened under his watch, at least).
Shame about ruining the Labour party...

[Koil]

Because in the UK we don't want crazy religious fundamentalists in power, unlike our American cousins

[Musthavename]

It's simply a matter that people in Britain don't want zealots in power. If Blair converted whilst in power, he would be branded a religious nutcase and instantly things would pop up about hidden agendas and such.

besides i thought the Anglican Church considered itself both Catholic and Reformed...

It's Protestant... it doesn't have anything to do with the Pope or Catholisism. Heck, the Church was created simply because Henry VIII got annoyed at the Pope!

[Deep_Red]

It's Protestant... it doesn't have anything to do with the Pope or Catholisism. Heck, the Church was created simply because Henry VIII got annoyed at the Pope!

... and wanted to marry another woman

[manofarms89]

Because in the UK we don't want crazy religious fundamentalists in power, unlike our American cousins

funny how almost none of our fundamentalists are Catholic but Protestant .

It's simply a matter that people in Britain don't want zealots in power. If Blair converted whilst in power, he would be branded a religious nutcase and instantly things would pop up about hidden agendas and such.

It's Protestant... it doesn't have anything to do with the Pope or Catholicism. Heck, the Church was created simply because Henry VIII got annoyed at the Pope!

that's perfectly fine, but does that mean Brits think Catholics to be zealots.

im sorry its the Church of England the considers it self Catholic and Reformed. my mistake.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_England