By Luke Baker Reuters - Sunday, December 23 11:40 amLONDON (Reuters) - Former prime minister Tony Blair’s conversion to Catholicism means he is now a member of the most popular Christian denomination in Britain, according to religious research published on Sunday.

Despite England’s official break with the pope in Rome during Henry VIII’s reign more than 400 years ago, making Anglicanism and the Church of England dominant, Catholicism is now the most practiced faith in the land.

A survey by the group Christian Research published in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper showed that around 862,000 worshippers attended Catholic Mass each week in 2006, exceeding the 852,000 who went to Church of England services.

Attendance at Anglican services has almost halved over the past 40 years as the country has grown steadily more secular, the research showed, with only Pentecostalism showing any rise in popularity among Christian denominations.

While attendance figures for both Catholic and Anglican services are declining, Catholic numbers are slipping by a lesser degree as new migrants arrive from east Europe and parts of Africa, boosting Catholic congregations.

“When a former prime minister becomes a Catholic, that must be a sign that Catholicism really has come in from the cold in this country,” Catherine Pepinster, the editor of Catholic weekly The Tablet, wrote in the Sunday Telegraph.

“I would hope that my fellow Catholics will welcome Tony Blair into the Church as they welcome other converts.”

Blair, now a Middle East peace envoy, is not the first high-profile Briton to convert to Catholicism.

The author Evelyn Waugh, the son of an Anglican churchman, converted in the 1930s, and novelist Graham Greene was a noted convert, although his books often explored doubts over faith.

Blair’s conversion was long expected — his wife and four children are practicing Catholics — but it has not come without a degree of criticism.

While in office, he frequently championed stem-cell research, was in support of civil partnerships for gay couples and has voted in favour of abortion, all issues on which the Catholic faithful hold strong positions.

Politicians, including some who have converted themselves, didn’t question the sincerity of the conversion, made in a private ceremony on Friday, but wondered what it said about the stances he had taken on issues while in office.

Mostly though, the reaction was muted.

“In the 19th century when someone ‘poped’ it caused great scandal,” wrote the Right Reverend Richard Harries, a former bishop of Oxford, in the Observer newspaper.

“But in recent decades a fundamental shift has taken place … If someone shifts their allegiance, well, as Jesus said, ‘there are many dwelling places in my father’s house’.”

(Editing by Alison Williams)

You were saying, what exactly?

I agree with you Jean…….a liar and someone responsible for thousands of dead in Iraq.

There are those who turn to God and those who acted like God when here. If you treat the lives of others like confetti thrown to the wind, its a fair bet you won’t need central heating where your going at some point.

A British PM who is seen as a war criminal by many people around the world but then its only foreign leaders who are the “bad guys” and never our own.

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Mods and Admin

My old gran used to say Christianity is ok? but religion is the invention of the devil - she was a die- hard indifferent

Forgot to say I’m sorry about what happened to your Mum and Dad. It’s a hellish situation, made worse by all the raw nerves, adrenaline and outsiders who quite enjoy it and trot over to gawp (sorry, show solidarity).

I have a terrible time because I can’t shut up and I’m too fond of debate (no one in NI debates) -I had an Uncle threaten me with a gun because I called him an extremist and like a total idiot I said ‘but you are an extremist if you’re threatening to kill me’ - I only lived because my Auntie managed to bundle me out of the house.

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Karen

Isn’t it just so hard to understand what goes on there, even when you know? There was an incident many years ago with the police in Andersonstown, when the local women formed a barricade to protect them, two of my aunts were part of the barricade. Civil war is dreadful, the worst kind. Even RC priests were truly threatened in the most emotional way, they can love their mothers, can’t they?

I like Pagans. They’re nice people. (I get quite New Agey myself). I can understand being through with Christianity though, the history is gruesome.

I don’t think the problem with Tony’s conversion is the choice of Church, I think the Media are annoyed that he dodged the big abortion, gay rights controversies - esp the Daily Mail, which is very pro-Catholic, very anti-gay, mostly anti-abortion and would have loved the coverage he would have generated esp. as Cardinal Keith O’Brien said no one who voted for abortion should take communion. Think of all the lost column inches!

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Mods and Admin

Given his alter-ego :Teflon, would the baptism hold any water?(sorry thats dreadful, well I’m not sorry , but its dreadful)

Although I no longer practise the RC faith, I was baptised at the Cross and Passion church in Ardoyne. Mum is Scots/Irish RC , Dad was C of E English, the IRA threatend mum with tarring and feathering, and what they threatened to do to dad is beyond telling.

I just don’t ‘do’ Christianity anymore, am Pagan through and through

Some family history too one of my ancestors rid some one of ‘This turbulent priest’

I think it was the hypocrisy of it. Or the uncertainty of it. And if you’re a left-liberal the reactionariness of it.
The Establishment would be C of E because they’re the entrenched rich, but I don’t know if it would stop you becoming Prime Minister - it’s the people that vote.

But then I don’t really know London that well, and I have a natural inclination to down play ethnic and religious divisions because I have relatives stuck on both sides of the divide in Northern Ireland and I know from bitter experience that these kind of accusations can trigger levels of rage and mistrust that escalate and make everything worse. They literally stop thinking and go into pure fight or flight and there’s no way of calming them down.

I believe in equality through stealth and friendships.

1. People complain about Islam all the time, esp. when they’re complaining that they can’t complain about it.
2. You obviously don’t like Islam so how does that make you better than someone who hates the R.C. Church?
3. The Vatican is a powerful, world-wide institution and you can hate that without hating ordinary Catholics (like you can resent the EU or the UN).
4. Secularisation doesn’t like any branch of Christianity and wants a total separation between Church and State.
5. The Pope managed to offend Jews, Muslims, other Christian denominations, Gays, feminists, Amnesty International supporters and indigenous Latin Americans last year in various speeches - so lets not assume we’re any less prejudiced.

Personally, I love the Church, for all it’s flaws. I don’t see it as scary, but then tell that to someone who was in a Magdalen Laundry, whose ancestors were burned as heretics, killed in the Crusades, tortured by the inquisition, or the Jews who were routinely persecuted and massacred.

Oh, Lord. I do love the Church. Honest.

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Mods and Admin

Guess it would be awesome/ful (one way or the other ) if one’s ancestry contained either a Borgia or a Medici.
But the 17thC onwards in Europe was a hot bed of religious non example, to put it very mildly
Think Melissa is looking at it from quite the wrong angle, depends on your view of TB also, which is prompting most of the negative comments

Melissa, it’s not prejudice to point out that we all knew for years and years he was thinking of doing it, therefore he’s a coward for not doing it - leaving poor Ruth Kelly to take all the flack over the abortion issue, gay adoption etc etc.

I assume this means the editors of these channels believed this was the most important news in the world at the time of the broadcast? Astounding!!

I agree with Naddo… Who gives a flying fuck?

What a laugh….confessional thingy!! Personally, I find the RC OK. Not much difference really to C of E. and in some ways a lot better than some of the other religions that take away a person’s freedom. It is Tony’s own business I agree and feel he could have turned even though being in office. He should have made a stance if he feels strongly about not doing so whilst in office.

if you were goin to convert to something, prayer beads always look mighty fine, don;t they?