White outfit, wrong occasion, Cherie (Cherie Blair didn't wear black to meet the Pope)

UK Telegraph ^ | 4/29/06 | Malcolm Moore and Jonathan Petre

[wagglebee]

Cherie Blair provoked surprise in the Vatican and the ire of a Roman Catholic MP yesterday by wearing all-white to meet the Pope, a privilege normally reserved for Catholic Queens.

The Vatican convention is that females meeting the Pontiff should wear black, preferably with a black veil, or mantilla.

	Cherie Blair with Pope Benedict

When the Queen met Pope John Paul II six years ago, she observed the code meticulously.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, wore black, but omitted the veil.

By contrast, Mrs Blair, a staunch Catholic, chose to exercise the "privilege du blanc", usually granted only to the wives of Catholic monarchs.

Her breach of the protocol was surprising, since she has kept closely to the Church's dress code in the past.

Mrs Blair may not have worn a hat to the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales but she mourned the passing of John Paul II in a mantilla.

Technically, only three women should wear white in the presence of the Pope.

They are Queen Sofia of Spain, Queen Paola of Belgium and Josephine Charlotte, the wife of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg. Queen Sofia exercised her privilege in a meeting with the previous Pope in 2003.

Ann Widdecombe, the former Tory minister and a convert to Catholicism, was scathing about Mrs Blair.

"Even the Queen wore black to meet the Pope," she said. "This shows that she has a very grand idea of herself.

"She is a Catholic. She knows what the tradition is when meeting the Pope.

"She obviously thinks she is the first lady.

"My message to her is 'You are not a Catholic Queen, my dear, and you never will be.' "

Mrs Blair was in Rome for a Church-organised conference entitled "Vanishing Youth? Solidarity with Children and Young People in an Age of Turbulence".

She was invited as an expert and remained afterwards for a private meeting with the Pope. A spokesman for the Vatican declined to reveal what they had discussed.

[TaxachusettsMan]

"I'm a Christian."

No, you're an ignorant bigot.

And post after post after post by you demonstrates this beyond doubt.

[Jacvin]

Please give us a break, you're a Catholic hating nutbag and everyone on this thread knows it.

[Heatseeker]

Amazing thread. After a week during which Tony Blair's

• Health Secretary gets booed off the stage at an RCN conference
• His Deputy Prime Minister (after bashing John Major's Tories for being sleazy) gets caught in a sex scandal
• His Home Secretary admits to letting a thousand illegal-alien criminals out of jail without deportation (some of which have already re-offended, including rape

..you guys spend nearly 200 posts and restart the Thirty Years War arguing about what Cherie wore to see the Pope!

[humblegunner]

"My message to her is 'You are not a Catholic Queen, my dear, and you never will be.' "

OFF WITH HER HEAD!

[William Terrell]

He doesn't. Fashion ninnies do.

I had figured so. But I had also figured a simple one sentence order (or do they call it an "edict") from him would eliminate the practice. So, the inference must be that he requires it.

[rabidralph]

His dress is quite appropriate.

[Cicero]

It's not a religious sin, it's a political or diplomatic gaffe.

As wife of the Prime Minister, Cherie Blaire is expected to observe the protocols. Not doing so led to precisely the problems detailed in this article. Instead of dwelling on the meeting itself, which could have been productive and improved the historically bad relations between England and the Papacy, the news articles are dwelling on Cherie's clothes.

In other words, she let the side down as a representative of the British government, not as a Catholic. From the religious point of view, the incident was trivial.

It must be said that the Blairs are apparently leftist Catholics, who have no problems supporting abortion and gay relationships. On the other hand, she seems to be a faithful Catholic in the sense of sticking with it and bringing up her children in the faith. Bewildering times that we live in.

[Ladysmith]

Shutup! I was raised as a Catholic and saw a ton of hypocrisy, all for the sake of looking "religious". My God, you couldn't even talk when walking down the hallways of an empty school or church! It was like being in a tomb and the ton of expectations, rules, etc., was crushing. Not once did I ever hear that what mattered most was having a *personal relationship with God*. One of my parents who puts on the Great Show STILL doesn't know what that means! My aunt, who is a nun, does somewhat but still has to put on her show, too. However, her fellow nun DOES get it big time and there isn't an ounce of pretentiousness in her.

So you can take all those petty Grace-killing rules and stuff them!

[rabidralph]

Why do people act like the pope is God? I'm sure the pope didn't care what she was wearing.

[Cvengr]

Many years ago , an elderly woman came to a minister at the beginning of his ministry in a certain church and began to warn him against a woman in the congregation. He should not entrust her with any spiritual task because, according to the gossip, she was "worldly".

The pastor had been apprised of the true situation in the church and came to the accused's defense. His informant persisted, saying that the woman in question danced, drank cocktails, smoked and used too much makeup. The pastor knew his Scripture and said, "On the contrary, you have not told me one item that would make me think she is the worldly one."

The woman was aghast and protested that she did not do this, she did not do that; that she abstained from this and avoided that.

The minister replied, "Nevertheless, you are the worldly one. All the things you mentioned against her are in the realm of the flesh. You are worldly because you are the one who wishes power and who loves display. You want to be the head of organizations. You delight in show and position. When the various circles were meeting in different homes, the other women finally returned to the church for the meetings because none of them could keep up with you. When the women had gone to your house, you had made an ostentatious show of your linen, your china, your crystal. As you have no children, you have had more income to spend on other things. Your conversation concerned the cloth and napkins you had bought in the Azores, the ornament from Dresden, and the antique from a little shop in England. Your supposed coat-of-arms was framed in a prominent place on your wall, and every time anyone remarked on any of your heirlooms you explained from which ancestor it had come and described without understatement his particular honors in life."

--Barnhouse, Donald Grey, The Invisible War, 1965 Zondervan Publlishing House, pp.176-177

[drhogan]

it sounds like the Vatican is discriminating against protestants.
why should queens from one religion get to wear white, and others have to wear black?
going along with such "protocol" would seem to be supporting this discrimination.
imagine if US presidents made you wear polkadots if you were of a different (i.e., less respected) religion.

[drhogan]

it was the woman's house--so the hug was appropriate.

[Cvengr]

Say, Havoc. I agree with the facts behind much of what you have stated, but hey man, check your spirit, bro..

[toddlintown]

She was wearing black undies and told the Pope so.

[OpusatFR]

I remember the thread recently where a group of girls were received in the White House and they were wearing flipflops.

Oh! The Humanity...what an outcry...what an affront...according to most on FR.

If you are Catholic, you abide by the rules. Besides, she was making a political point...that, was the affront.

[drhogan]

there was a similar flap when nancy reagan met queen elizabeth (in england). apparently one is supposed to curtsy to the queen, and nancy declined to do so.
she knew the protocol, but thought that it was inappropriate for an americal citizen to bow/curtsy to a foreign queen.

[Churchillspirit]

As the old joke goes.....

Who is that guy in white standing next to Cherie Blair?

[Churchillspirit]

Rainier was a Prince and not a King, because his country is a Principality.

[Churchillspirit]

The morning after the Blairs moved into Number 10 after winning the election, Cherie Blair stepped out the front door to collect the milk and the newspaper. Waiting for her was a gaggle of media.

What a sight!! Slippers, dressing gown and tangled hair.

Cherie has no class.

[DOGEY]

So does that mean Andrew Sullivan's allowed to wear white if he ever gets an audience?

No. Pink.