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Tony Blair has spoken to the BBC about his first spiritual experience, which occurred when he was a child. (Blair).. said that he reads the Koran nearly every day.

Tony Blair, Architect of Britain's Anti-Christian Culture, Complains Christians Are Being Marginalized LONDON, March 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of Britain and leader of the ruling Labour Party for ten years, has decried in an interview the "ludicrous" recent decisions by which the religious expression of Christians is being suppressed in Britain. "I hope and believe that stories of people not being allowed to express their Christianity are exceptional or the result of individual ludicrous decisions. My view is that people should be proud of their Christianity and able to express it as they wish,"...

Tony Blair was on the brink of announcing his conversion to Catholicism on a visit to the Pope until a last-ditch intervention by Britain's Roman Catholic leader.   Tony Blair at an audience with Pope Benedict XVI The former Prime Minister was planning to make the historic statement on a trip to the Vatican, but was persuaded not to at the 11th hour.Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, advised Mr Blair that it would be unwise and inappropriate to use such a high-profile occasion for such an important private event, particularly coming just days before he was due to...

Tony blair has sparked controversy by claiming that people who speak about their religious faith can be viewed by society as "nutters". The former prime minister's comments came as he admitted for the first time that his faith was "hugely important" in influencing his decisions during his decade in power at Number 10, including going to war with Iraq in 2003. Mr Blair complained that he had been unable to follow the example of US politicians, such as President George W. Bush, in being open about his faith because people in Britain regarded religion with suspicion. "It's difficult if you...

TONY BLAIR has been attending private Roman Catholic masses in Downing Street conducted by a Franciscan friar renowned for helping convert members of the Establishment to Catholicism. The prime minister, an Anglican, participates in the services, although he does not take Communion with his wife Cherie, a Catholic, and their children. Sources disclosed that the ceremonies are conducted in the sitting room by Father Michael Seed, the friar who prepared the Conservative MPs John Gummer and Ann Widdecombe to become Catholics. The Blairs, whose four children are Catholics, have been quietly attending mass at Downing Street and Chequers since 2003...

Persistent rumors that British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a Protestant, may convert to Roman Catholicism got a strong boost when the Times of London revealed Sunday that a Franciscan friar has been conducting Mass for the Blair family at Number 10 Downing St., the prime minister's official residence. Blair, nominally an Anglican, Britain's official religious denomination, has repeatedly denied reports that he plans to convert to Catholicism, his wife's religion. The Times notes that Blair participates in the Mass but does not take Holy Communion. Attending Mass has been a longtime practice of the prime minister. All of his four...

LONDON, England -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair says God and history will judge whether he was right to go to war in Iraq, according to the transcript of a television interview to be broadcast Saturday. In a rare reference to his Christian religious faith, Blair told broadcaster Michael Parkinson he had struggled with his conscience over the decision. When asked about sending troops to Iraq, he said: "That decision has to be taken and has to be lived with, and in the end there is a judgment that -- well, I think if you have faith about these things...

Prime Minister Tony Blair says he prayed to God when deciding whether or not to send UK troops to Iraq.Mr Blair answered "yes" when asked on ITV1 chat show Parkinson if he had sought holy intervention on the issue. "Of course, you struggle with your own conscience about it... and its one of these situations that, I suppose, very few people ever find themselves in." The interview, Michael Parkinson's first on his chat show with a serving PM, will be shown on Saturday. "In the end, there is a judgement that, I think if you have faith about these things,...

Cherie Blair says parenthood influenced her return to Catholic faith LONDON (CNS) -- The wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair said being a parent helped her return to her Catholic faith. In her most candid public reflection on her religious beliefs, Cherie Blair described herself as a feminist with an "enduring soft spot for the Virgin Mary." "She, for me, is an important part of Catholicism, because I passionately believe there is no more important role in life than motherhood," Blair said in The Independent newspaper June 5. "I admire her self-sacrifice, her ability to accept God's will and...

THE WASHINGTON TIMES LONDON -- Prime Minister Tony Blair, in a rare open foray into matters of faith, said yesterday that religion should play a greater part in his nation's life, but he warned against allowing it to assume the same role in British politics that it has in the United States. Mr. Blair told an audience of religious and community organizations in London that although religion can make a "visible, tangible difference" in British society, it would be "unhealthy" if it moved to center stage on the country's political scene.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has dismissed speculation that he intends to convert to Roman Catholicism. Blair is an Anglican but has accompanied his wife Cherie, a Catholic, and their children to Mass regularly, triggering several reports in recent years that he might switch faiths. Several British newspapers on Friday quoted a Catholic priest, who regularly presides over services at Blair's country estate Chequers, as saying he thought Blair might convert. "If you ask me do you think he wants to become a Catholic, I would say yes," Father Timothy Russ, was quoted as saying. The Guardian newspaper quoted Russ...

NO.10 BAN ON PRAYING Nov 18 2003 By Paul Gilfeather, Whitehall Editor TONY Blair has been banned from praying with George Bush. The US president wanted the PM to join him in prayer at Durham Cathedral on Thursday. But the official request from the White House was turned down amid fears that such an event would leave Mr Blair open to ridicule. Both men prayed together at the president's Camp David retreat after making the final preparations for war with Iraq. A Whitehall source said: "Durham Cathedral was mentioned to the White House as a possible place to visit and...

And on the seventh day Tony Blair created... It may prove an uphill struggle in this secular day and age, but the Prime Minister is aiming to put religion right at the centre of government. Kamal Ahmed reports on a major break with British tradition Sunday August 3, 2003 The Observer Tony Blair knows it is one of the most delicate of subjects. When asked about it he squirms and tries to change to a more comfortable line of inquiry. But quietly the Prime Minister is putting religion at the centre of the New Labour project, reflecting his own deeply...

<p>Tony Blair is a hero of the liberation of Iraq, but a British prime minister who confronts Islamist terror abroad has to watch himself with his atheists at home.</p> <p>Mr. Blair is in a spot of trouble for trying to be nice to God. No Churchillian gestures allowed.</p>

London, May. 5 (CWNews.com) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been banned from publicly talking about his faith by his press spokesman, reports the Daily Telegraph. During press interviews to mark Blair's 50th birthday this week, Downing Street director of communication Alistair Campbell interrupted one journalist's question about the Prime Minister's Christian faith by reminding him: "We don't do God." It has also been reported that Campbell-- an avowed atheist-- vetoed the suggestion that Blair conclude his televised address to the nation at the start of the war against Iraq by saying "God bless you." Blair is an Anglican...

Faith will have taught Blair and Bush humility, conscience and responsibility Be honest, how did you feel when you read that the Prime Minister had told The Times he was “ready to meet his Maker” and answer for the casualties caused by the Iraq war? Scornful of this Christian Soldier enlisting God to the colours for his Holy War? Or embarrassed that a grown man of 50 entrusted with the fate of the country was rattling his rosaries in the nation’s face? The British have become uneasy with public protestations of private religious belief, doubly so when the language of...

Campbell interrupted Blair as he spoke of his faith: 'We don't do God' By Colin Brown, Political Editor (Filed: 04/05/2003) Tony Blair's most senior advisers have intervened to prevent him discussing his faith in public, according to two new profiles of the Prime Minister. The bar on the topic is so rigid that Alastair Campbell, Mr Blair's director of strategy and communications, intervened in a recent interview to prevent the Prime Minister from answering a question about his Christianity. "We don't do God," Mr Campbell interrupted. It also emerged yesterday that Mr Blair was prevented by his advisers from ending...

TONY Blair has revealed how his Christian faith sustained him during the darkest days of the Iraq war and that he is prepared to be judged by God for the deaths caused by the conflict. It is the first time the Prime Minister has spoken so openly about his religious beliefs and the crises of confidence he experienced during the most testing weeks of his premiership. Blair said he would be able to justify to his "Maker" the momentous decision to wage war on Iraq, which ultimately led to the loss of hundreds of lives. The Prime Minister declared that...

Blair 'ready to meet his Maker' Tony Blair is ready to answer before God for his decision to go to war with Iraq, according to a behind-the-scenes account. The prime minister said he was prepared to meet his "Maker" and could justify those actions which had led to hundreds of deaths. In a report by former Times editor Peter Stothard, published in the Times Magazine, Mr Blair reveals the depth of his religious faith and its importance in guiding his decisions as prime minister. Mr Stothard, who spent part of the war with the prime minister, says aides had to...

The special relationship between Blair and God The Prime Minister’s religious faith is acknowledged, says Peter Oborne, but it masks a remarkable doctrinal elasticity It was an unusual preliminary to the war. No British prime minister before Tony Blair has set the scene for a military campaign with a visit to the Vatican for a blessing by the Pope. Admittedly it was not a state visit. Tony Blair’s trip to the Vatican was apparently in the capacity of the spouse of a practising Catholic. Nevertheless, it was very striking indeed that the Prime Minister, visibly exhausted by a demanding schedule,...