Sunday, December 23, 2007
Now he does do God…
his Donegal mother’s Catholicism. Blair, whose faith in God once found him exhanging religious literature with Ian Paisley, famously downplayed it publicly while in office, despite there having never been a Catholic PM in the UK. Many of the stories reporting the news claim the sensitive nature of the peace talks here may have played a role in delaying what many saw as inevitable. Fellow convert Anne Widdecombe has already questioned Blair’s credentials, after his backing for abortion, embryo research and Sunday trading. Perhaps Blair’s faith is as shallow as other aspects of his leadership? Ah well, sure God will judge him some day, if s/he exists!
Belfast Gonzo @ 01:53 AM
so Blair decides to join his mothers brand of original formula christianity, he must be heading straight for confessions as we speak !
Posted by on Dec 23, 2007 @ 02:19 AMBlair swaps Christianity for Christianity.
Good for him.
Posted by on Dec 23, 2007 @ 02:55 AMrepublican stones
It’s his wife’s brand of Christianity and it is not the original.The original Church is the Assyrian Church.The Eastern Churches welcome visitors with warmth and friendliness.Posted by on Dec 23, 2007 @ 03:44 AMI have to say that I agree with Anne-You have to be a Christian ,not just profess it.
But hey Gonzo- this so called multi cultural society allows anyone to be Prime Minister -just as long as they aren’t Catholic.Posted by on Dec 23, 2007 @ 03:47 AMAs far as I’m aware the esatern Christian Orthadox Churches are in communion with Rome.
Posted by on Dec 23, 2007 @ 03:59 AM“Tony Blair has finally, but not unexpectedly, converted to his Donegal mother’s Catholicism.”
erm.. that would be his mam Hazel, not Fionnuala, from Ballyshannon, not Shannon, who played hockey not hurling.
Catholic? In her choice of music, perhaps.
Posted by on Dec 23, 2007 @ 04:09 AMDanny
The Eastern Oriental Churches recognize the Archbishop of Rome as an equal.There are no real concessions on the nature of Jesus the cause of the original schism.Posted by on Dec 23, 2007 @ 05:14 AMyeah. Mummys name was Corscadden and she was from a South Donegal strong protestant family. One with Orange links. Not sure how happy she’d be with a Romanist son and grand-weans.
Posted by on Dec 23, 2007 @ 05:45 AMHaving now been accepted into the One True Church can canonisation now be far behind? But under what title shall we, the faithful, pray to him to intercede for us?
St Anthony of Baghdad perhaps?
Posted by on Dec 23, 2007 @ 08:24 AMAfraid you got the Ballyshannon Orange connection a bit mixed up, Gonzo.
According to Brian Kennaway’s book, maternal grandfather was in the Order, and I have heard that maternal grandmother warned the young Anthony not to marry a Catholic.
Now the real question arises for Martina Anderson. Given that Mr Blair has half-Ulster ancestry (ie is 50% local), and has made a very public ‘conversion’ (approved by the Pope, apparently):
Is TONY BLAIR a Catholic?
Posted by on Dec 23, 2007 @ 09:18 AMOn an aside, if the Roman Catholic communion likes to be known as the One True Church - OTC for short, how should we refer to the Catholic wing of Anglicanism with its penchant for extremely flamboyant liturgy and ritual? OTT perhaps?
What say you, Sammy Morse?
Posted by on Dec 23, 2007 @ 09:18 AMwhy anyone would want to unite with a church and this goes for all BRANDS of christianity, that professes love and respect but shows nothing but intolence to the poor, the needy, supports morally and financially some of the most despotic regimes worldwide, has no respect for the human rights of those who don`t profess their doctrine....
Posted by on Dec 23, 2007 @ 10:50 AMBG, where did you get the maternal Catholic reference?
Blair was born at the Queen Mary Maternity Home[5] in Edinburgh, Scotland on 6 May 1953, the second son of Leo and Hazel Blair (nĂ©e Corscadden). Leo Blair, the son of two English actors, had been adopted by a Glasgow shipyard worker named James Blair and his wife Mary as a baby. Hazel Corscadden was the daughter of George Corscadden, a butcher and Orangeman who had moved to Glasgow in 1916 but returned to (and died in) Ballyshannon in 1923, where his wife Sarah Margaret neĂ© Lipsett gave birth to Blair’s mother Hazel above her family’s grocery shop. George Corscadden was from a family of Protestant farmers in County Donegal, Ireland, who descended from Scottish settlers that took their family name from Garscadden, now part of Glasgow. The Blair family was often taken on holiday to Rossnowlagh, a beach resort near Hazel’s hometown of Ballyshannon which is the venue of the main Orange order parade in the Republic of Ireland.
You’ll find quite a few Corscaddens and Lipsetts in the 1912 Ulster Covenant.
Posted by on Dec 23, 2007 @ 11:22 AMRepublicanstones
“decides to join his mothers brand of original formula christianity”
Again you use the language of the detestable Rocky McBatts, and again it only serves to show just how ignorant you are.
Posted by on Dec 23, 2007 @ 11:53 AMWiddecombe’s comments are interesting and scary :
- the fact that Blair led the charge for an illegal war leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people is so insignificant next to the tenets of her faith that she does not feel the need to mention it;
- she also believes that religious politicians are supposed to put the interests of their church ahead of everything else when they’re in power.
I’m frightened that people like this are in the House of Commons.
Danny O’Connor, apparently the trouble with having a Catholic PM is the issue of appointments of bishops in the Church of England. The only answer is to completely disestablish the CoE; or formally hand these powers back over to the Queen. The government and/or parliament should not be involved in the appointment of religious figures.
Posted by on Dec 23, 2007 @ 12:34 PMCS, Widdecombe’s second comment needs to be seen in the context of the Pope being head of state as well as head of church.
Posted by on Dec 28, 2007 @ 12:33 PMCS, Widdecombe’s second comment needs to be seen in the context of the Pope being head of state as well as head of church.
- she also believes that religious politicians are supposed to put the interests of their church ahead of everything else when they’re in power.
Nevin, I don’t think too many people will be shocked to realise that the Pope acts in the interests of the catholic church. I would say it would be in the job description. At least he is elected though unlike the Queen who also holds both positions.
Posted by on Dec 28, 2007 @ 03:58 PMpfyl, there could be a conflict of interest. For example, which state would a future PM feel more obliged to give his or her allegiance?
Posted by on Dec 28, 2007 @ 04:44 PMIf he was the PM of the UK i think that is quite clear. Nowhere in my religion have i been asked to pledge my support to the Vatican state. I do take guidence from the pope in Religious Matters not political. Im not sure if you have took much time to look at what is expected of Catholics. Could you give me an example of a possible conflict of interest that the UK and the Vatican would have?
Posted by on Dec 28, 2007 @ 06:39 PMUlster unionism succeeded for a while because they were useful to the British Conservative Party. Now they are dangerous ‘people of the night’ who couldn’t be trusted out in public by a party which is desperately trying to leave the tag ‘Nasty Party’ behind.
Anyone remember the Orange riots a few years ago with the desperate messages on this site from the Unionist HQ under siege by the forces of law and order and stranded behind the Orange lines?
That was the authentic voice of a party committing suicide.
Is it really necessary to draw out the wake this long?
Posted by on Dec 28, 2007 @ 09:20 PMpfhl, the Irish bishops proffered ’advice‘ on how to vote in the Nice Treaty; presumably something similar would happen in the UK on the EU and other matters.
Some premiers may acquiesce to Vatican pressure, others may not:
The outspoken Bishop of Kerry was controversially picked to replace the more liberal Ryan in Dublin. Media reports linked his appointment to the ongoing tension between the papal nuncio in Ireland, Archbishop Alibrandi and the liberal Fine Gael–Labour coalition under Dr Garret FitzGerald. Relations between Alibrandi and the coalition had broken down, with the government requesting that Alibrandi be removed because of his suspected closeness to Irish republicans in Sinn FĂ©in and to the opposition Fianna Fáil party and in particular its leader, Charles Haughey. Critics accused Alibrandi of engineering McNamara’s appointment in the belief that the outspoken McNamara could help derail the coalition’s liberal policies on divorce and contraception. McNamara, as expected, took a far more outspoken stance of issues than had Ryan previously. While the coalition succeeded in liberalising the law on contraception, its efforts to amend the constitution on divorce were defeated.
Posted by on Dec 28, 2007 @ 09:56 PMlib2016, Unionism and Nationalism are aspirations to be accommodated here; they’ve each got something of the dark about them.
Posted by on Dec 28, 2007 @ 09:59 PM“they’ve each got something of the dark about them.”
Nonsense, and dangerous nonsense at that. I was referring to the situation in which the British Conservatives find themselves. To get back on-subject.
Unionists want to keep ties with a country with not one but two state churches and moreover their own record while in power was one of enormous religious sectarianism while Irish nationalists want separation of church and state.
That doesn’t mean that church people should be disfranchised or forbidden from putting pressure on politicans. Merely that they should have no more rights than any other citizen.
Posted by on Dec 29, 2007 @ 05:41 AMMistake now corrected about Blair’s mum.
Posted by on Dec 29, 2007 @ 11:16 AMAs Tony’s involvelment in Non Iron is no more - where such things matter particulalry to Prods - then its probably irrelavant if he converts one way or another. As he is the (poor) choice of middle eastern peace envoy, it is the strength of his Chistianity (irrespective of virgin births, holy ghosts, papal infallability etc) which is the relevant issue. Given that Israel was set up by British Zionist Christians he must be rightly viewed with deep suspsicion by Arabs of the region who have been shafted by Western Religious zealots and black gold dgiggers for decades. Tony probably fits the bill on both counts.
Posted by on Dec 29, 2007 @ 06:21 PM
