A brief article in The Guardian suggests that Tony Blair will convert to Catholicism after he retires as Prime Minister. Apparently he used his last meeting with Pope to discuss matters relating to his personal conversion, among other things.

It is interesting to me how this story shows how Britain today is caught between its traditional staunchly Protestant identity and its contemporary relative indifference to religion. The newspaper coverage was very brief, suggesting a relatively unimportant, personal interest story in addition to something at present unconfirmed. Yet, that Blair (if, in fact, he is going to do this) feels compelled to wait until he relinquishes his office shows that it would be something of a “big deal” for a British leader to leave the Church of England.

Tony Blair yesterday used his last official foreign engagement before leaving office to tell Pope Benedict he wanted to become a Roman Catholic, a Vatican source said last night.

But, in talks lasting more than half an hour, the outgoing Prime Minister was left in no doubt that the Pope took a dim view of his record in office. A statement issued afterwards by the Vatican said there had been a frank exchange of views.

The complete article from The Guardian: “Blair tells Pope: Now Im ready to become a Catholic”