Religion has a central and unique role in society and its development, according to the former prime minister of England. Tony Blair, a convert to Catholicism, spoke with L’Osservatore Romano about his faith in an exclusive interview.” My spiritual journey began when I started to go to Mass with my wife”, Blair said.” Then we decided to baptize our children in the Catholic faith. It was a journey that lasted 25 years, or perhaps more. In time, emotionally, intellectually and rationally it seemed to me that the Catholic home was the right one for me. When I left political office, and I no longer had the entire context connected with been prime minister, it was something I really wanted to do”.
Blair added that religion has brought him closer to his wife.” We did not meet because of religion, but it was very interesting to discover that my wife was very active in Catholic student organization and in other youth organization,” he recalled.” For young people 23 or 24 years old, when we met, it was rather unusual to discover a shared interest in religion.”
Blair affirmed that in addition to his wife’s influence, an experience with Pope John II helped him move toward Catholicism. He attended a mass celebrated by the Holy Father in his private chapel.” It is still a very vivid memory, an episode that impressed me very much,” Blair recounted.”Certainly,it is quite probable that, in any event, I would have come to my conversion but,undoubtedly,it was an important stage that ultimately reinforced my decision.
“One of the things that have most attracted me to the Catholic Church is her universal nature. If you are a Catholic, you can go anywhere in the world and attend mass. I was at Mass in Kigali, Beijing, Singapore…The fact that wherever you are, you are in communion with others is really formidable. The universal Church herself is an important model of a global institution.” The British politician is now dedicated to promoting the Tony Blair Foundation for inter-religious dialogue, which is especially active in Africa and the Middle East. As to whether being a Catholic is an advantage in his activity in the Middle East, Blair responded:”Honestly,I’ve never considered it a problem.Never.On the contrary, I often think that, in the modern world, the fact of being a person of faith enhances one’s capacity to relate to persons of other creeds. It’s true, sometimes the opposite happens—one meets with strong opposition. However, given that today, factors of secularization subject faith to a harsh and aggressive attack, in the end what happens is that people of different creeds sometimes become allies.”
Blair praised Benedict XVI’s encyclical “Caritas in Veritate,”saying it should be “read and re-read.” He particularly highlighted the Pope’s affirmation that “the Christian religion and other religions can make mean that debates and confrontations will end. On the contrary, it will continue on many subjects in regards to which, probably, the church will be on one side and political leaders on the other.”However, I don’t think this is the main point: The point is that faith has every right to enter in this space and to speak. It must not be silent.” The voice of faith must not be absent from the public debate.
Finally, L’Osservatore Romano spoke with Blair about his personal experience as a father. He said it is a role that has to be taken “with responsibility and without arrogance.”
No matter how good or intelligent I thought I was, I always found that to be a father was something very difficult. And I still think so,” he reflected. Blair affirmed that fathers are “crucial” figures in the family,”essential”for children’s growth and formation. And he contended that “in certain aspects, the idea of family is being recovered.” Also in this area I believe that religious communities and the Church have a role to play,” Blair said.” It’s true, families have their problems, they disintegrate—something that I fear will continue to happen. How ever, I have always thought that the Church’s indications in the matter of the family were useful.
“Lets be clear: to make a marriage work calls for effort and, I believe, paternity also calls for it. But I really think that, among the great changes that are taking place, also in the social realm, it is necessary to rediscover that paternity is a responsibility and a necessity.