The Associated Press, December 22, 2007
LONDON, England (AP) — Tony Blair, who often kept his religious views private while serving as Britain’s prime minister, has converted to Catholicism, officials said Saturday.
Blair, who had long been a member of the Church of England, converted to the Catholic faith during a Mass held Friday night at a chapel in London, the Catholic Church said.
“It can be confirmed that Tony Blair has been received into full communion with the Catholic Church by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor,” the head of the church in England and Wales, the church said in a statement.
“I’m very glad to welcome Tony Blair into the Catholic Church,” the statement quoted Murphy-O’Connor as saying.
“For a long time he’s been a regular worshipper at Mass with his family and in recent months he’s been following a program of formation for his reception into full communion. Our prayers are with him, his family and his wife at this joyful moment in their journey of faith together,” Murphy-O’Connor said.