I’m under too much stress with too little sleep, so I am in the perfect mood to discuss the state of mainstream journalism about religion as well as Tony Blair’s flirtation with the Church. Not that his flirtation with the Church hasn’t been going on for years, but still.
The article from the Times is appalling, starting with an appalling headline:
Blair will be welcomed into Catholic fold via his ‘baptism of desire’
Tony Blair is an Anglican, and no doubt already baptised in the normal way. Baptism of desire has nothing whatsoever to do with this.
Tony Blair will declare himself a Roman Catholic on leaving Downing Street, according to a priest close to him.
You can’t just “declare yourself a Roman Catholic”.
Father Michael Seed, who is known for bringing high-profile politicians and aristocrats into the Catholic fold and who says Mass for the Blairs in Downing Street each week when they are in London, made the prediction to friends at a recent memorial service.
I’d love to know what he actually said, but he doesn’t sound very discreet for a priest.
Last night, when contacted by The Times, he did not deny his comments, but said he did not know if Mr Blair would ever be received “formally” into the Roman Catholic Church.
Ah. But that would mean there would be no story, because Blair has been lurking about on the threshold of the Church for eons. I have no particular problem with people hovering on the brink for as long as it takes – some very wonderful people have done so – but that Blair is doing so not news.
To do so he would have to take part in a ceremony called the rite of Christian initiation for adults, followed by confirmation and taking the sacrament of Holy Communion.
The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults is not for those already baptised, and it’s not actually a single ceremony but a set of processes and rites leading up to baptism. (And (trivially) why is Holy Communion capitalised but not Confirmation?)
Another church source said that many of the early saints and martyrs were not baptised. Such people were held to have had a “baptism of desire”.
Generally, unbaptised martyrs are held to have the baptism of blood…though I suppose they also had the baptism of desire (otherwise why be a martyr?) – and probably would have had the baptism of desire if they’d been run over by a chariot instead of eaten by lions. :)
He said that Mr Blair was a Catholic by desire and that this did not necessitate a formal conversion.
Aside from the fact that a baptised person is already a Christian and technically cannot convert (they are received into full communion with the Church) – this source is encouraging people to play a very risky game. If a person genuinely desires to become Catholic, actually believes in the teachings of the Church, then not only should they become Catholic, they are morally obligated to become a Catholic. If there is grave coercion against them, they are probably not culpable for not doing so….but it’s not like Blair is a Mohammedan in Saudi Arabian who is at risk of death.
“He is an ecumenical Catholic,” said the source. “He is a liberal Catholic. In terms of his private life, he is a Roman Catholic.”
Words fail me.
[snip]
Mr Blair has been criticised for receiving Communion at Catholic Mass. Cardinal Basil Hume, the late Archbishop of Westminster, wrote to him in 1996 demanding that he should cease taking Communion at his wife’s church in Islington, although he added that it was “all right to do so when in Tuscany for the holidays . . . as there was no Anglican church near by”.
Mr Blair made it clear that he did not agree with Cardinal Hume’s opinion, writing in a pointed letter to him: “I wonder what Jesus would have made of it.”
The Cardinal was absolutely right. I always thought Blair’s response sounded rather spoiled, upset that he couldn’t have his own will on the matter...and his need for his own way also sounds like the primary driver in this supposed intention to “declare himself a Roman Catholic” by fiat.
The point is, he is a prominent politician whose positions on several grave issues depart definitively from the Church’s. The presence of dissenting cradle Catholics – like Cherie Blair – is one thing (and I can understand why that is being smacked down on in slooooow motion), but it is entirely another to receive a very prominent dissenter, from the world of politics no less, into full communion with the Church. I’m already disappointed with the bishops of England and Wales, but I want them to have a little spine about this issue.
But – hold on a minute. I wonder if this no-news news article is precisely Blair’s attempt (via Fr Seed) to spin himself as a “Roman Catholic by desire” in order to avoid asking for formal full communion. Maybe that is a step too far for even these bishops – especially with Benedict now at the helm – and Blair knows he would be refused as long as he remained unrepentant.
Hm.
Update: I ran my suspicions on this past an English priest I trust, and he agreed with me that this is probably the purpose of the article.
