www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall It's Official - Tony Blair is now RC

Seemingly it happened yesterday

BBC News Item [news.bbc.co.uk]


Now it's finally out - speculation can stop and hopefully he will be left in peace .

Glory to Jesus Christ. Here's the note I sent to the BBC

I've always considered Tony Blair to be a man of great integrity and one of the world's great statesmen. I'm not surprised that he is now Catholic, the most rational religion ever given to human kind.

Carson

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Stephanos I

Given his political stances on Homosexuality, Condoms , Abortion, and other moral isuse sin which he has consistantly sided with Modernism and socialism over and above the CHurches teachings, I wonder if this truly is good news.

But given the state of the British Catholic Church, and her leadership, he will fit right in.

Anyone can have a change of heart and mind....that is the definition of conversion.

God grant him many years!

Gordo

Any adult living human being is capable of improving his thinking and changing his behavior. We have no mission to sit in judgement on Tony Blair, and as for his previous conduct and views, we may all notice that he was not received into the Church the day he left office. I trust the pastoral discernment of Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor and the priests who were entrusted with Tony Blair's wish for entry into the Catholic Church. He would certainly have been required to come to Confession in the course of his reception - what he may have confessed is none of my business. Nor is it any of Anne Widicombe's business.

Our business is to rejoice at his entry into the Church, and to pray that he may find salvation in Heaven.

Fr. Serge

Mr. Blair if you read this, Congratulations!

Commemoration of an Uncondemning Monk
(March 30)


SerbianOrthodoxChurch.net

This monk died joyfully because he had never in his life condemned anyone. He was lazy, careless, disinclined to prayer, but throughout his entire life he had never judged anyone. And when he lay dying, he was full of joy. The brethren asked him how he could die so joy-fully with all his sins, and he replied: `I have just seen the angels, and they showed me a page with all my many sins. I said to them: "The Lord said: `Judge not, that ye be not judged.' I have never judged anyone and I hope in the mercy of God, that He will not judge me." And the angels tore up the sheet of paper.' Hearing this, the monks wondered at it and learned from it.

I just found this on the calendar of the Serbian Orthodo Church

What planet are you living on? Great integrity indeed. The man wrecked the House of Lords, banned hunting and turned Britain into a dump.

No, Edward, the Tories had 18 years to do that job. Mr Blair just followed along in their footsteps.

Only time will tell what kind of Catholic Tony Blair will be. If he chooses to reject those doctrines that run contrary to his past political positions, he'll be no different then millions of others who are Catholic in name only.

I welcome Mr. Blair into the Church and pray that he becomes a great witness to Britannia and may the country that was once Our Lady's Dowry become Catholic once again. I also pray that he accept all of the teachings of the Church.

"I also pray that he accept all of the teachings of the Church."

I will be joining you here.

Terry

Mr. Blair had to pronounce acceptance of all the beliefs and teachings of the Catholic Church at the time of his confirmation. Otherwise, he could not have been formally received by Cardinal O'Connor.

(It is assumed here that he previously went to his first confession and unburdened hinself of his political views on abortion, homosexuality, etc.)

What I join you in praying for is his perseverance!

Amado

Just my two cents, and I'm sure it's not required by Canon Law, but I believe that private confession should be for private sins.

On the other hand, if a public figure, whose positions on certain public issues are well known to be at odds with Catholic teaching, it certainly stands to reason that a public retraction would be in order.


Peace,
Deacon Richard

Unfortunately I've spoken with converts to Roman Catholicism in my home Archdiocese of Chicago, who were never told that they had to go to confession. Time we dusted off the Baltimore Catechism.

My kids are taught by the old St. Joseph gray Catechism.

That and their ol' dad.

My wife and I were fortunate to receive private instruction from a holy priest. Confession seems to be a negelected sacrament.

Terry

"On the other hand, if a public figure, whose positions on certain public issues are well known to be at odds with Catholic teaching, it certainly stands to reason that a public retraction would be in order."

Deacon Richard,

This makes sense. Otherwise the public stance is 'as is' in the public's eye unless it is adressed. Is it like the restitution of goods? I may be sorry that I stole that car, but if I'm still driving it I cannot be contrite.

Terry

Some dont have to go to confession, if they were received into the Church through Baptism, it washes away all previous sins.
Stephanos I

Father,

How common is that belief? I am familiar with it as taught by some Protestants. That belief was linked to another one where "we don't need priests".

Terry

Well it is the teaching of the Catholic Church that all original and personal sin is washed away and a person is regenerated through the saving water of Baptism.
CCC 405 Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ's grace, erases original sin ad turns a man back toward God, but the consequences for nature, weakend and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle.

CCC 1263 "By Baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin."

Stephanos I

Father,

I should have been more specific. It is not that aspect to Baptism I was referring to but that, after being Baptized, there are some Protestants who believe that they remain pure and would not need confession. Otherwise, as this belief goes, they would not be a Christian, they would not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and their Baptism would have been signifying nothing and therefore invalid.

Terry

It is undeniably true that there has been a drastic falling-off in the practice of the Sacrament of Penance among Catholics in recent years. There are several reasons for this, but I should like to suggest that one particular reason of some significance has been overlooked:

We have all been taught that Confession is a conversation of the most utterly confidential nature; that the "seal of Confession" assures us that the priest will absolutely never disclose to anyone what we have confessed - and that any case of doubt is always to be resolved in favor of the seal.

That's the trouble - who wants confidentiality these days? People are standing in line outside television stations demanding the right to tell the whole world all the disgusting things they have been doing recently! If what you have done is so unbearable that even Jerry Springer wouldn't put up with it, you tell the whole world anyway and explain that you are going public in the pious hope that learning of your fall will assist others who have the same temptation!

This sounds like a joke, but I am not joking. The current motto seems to be "I demand my 15 minutes of fame!"

Fr. Serge

LOL! (....I think?!?)

Alice

I would like to see confession return to what it was in apostolic times - before the scholastics got into it and make kicking the furniture a sin. As in early times, there are major sins that require confession. But it seems that in the west, at least, excessive Roman legalism has driven many away from the sacrament.

The scholastic school of thought had its golden period where it was bound with a wholehearted approach to theological wisdom. I respect the thought from that period. Where it became legalism, the framework of ideas became the object of faith rather than God and His ways.

A generation and more ago, in the Latin Church, people categorized and ordered their sins by degree. Some better than others. But there was a greater respect for the sacrament of penance. Is scholasticism the major factor in the distaste for confession in this generation?

I would guess not, as many cultural influences come from outside of the Church. There is a general attitude of selfishness. We are bombarded with instant everything and "it's all about me" advertising. Our psychologists tend to pressure us to look within ourselves to find what's best for us and that it is unnatural to restrain the desires that don't hurt others. Family councilors sometimes steer people to separate and divorce rather than working together while keeping in mind the gravity of the vow they took before God.

It could be hard for someone steeped in this culture to really know what sin is. It takes effort and grace to have a well formed conscience by which we judge our actions. Without a well formed conscience, many people may negelect penance and consume the Eucharist without a second thought.

Terry

I have to agree that with most churches I know of only offering the Sacrament of Reconciliation for anywheres from 15-30 minutes a week, I would quickly come to the conclusion that it is not a sought after sacrament. It appears that someone has dropped the ball regarding any importance in this sacrament.

At the RC church where I work, confession is offered for an hour every Saturday by two priests. There are lines. However, I still maintain that some of what we have been taught as confessable sin is medieval nit-picking and hair splitting. I think most of us who do confess actually realize the difference between what is serious and what is trivial.

I would hardly say it is "Roman Legalism" that has driven people away from confession but rather a dulling or death of the conscience which has done it. The me generation where I can have and do anyting "I" want and no one is going to tell me "I" cant!
My greatest play on the word sin is this s"I"n = egoism.
Stephanos I

I would have to disagree VERY strongly that "excessive Roman legalism" has driven many away from the Sacrament.

In fact the opposite seems to be true. When the Church was REALLY "legalistic," like back in the 1950s and on back for a few centuries, practically everyone confessed. Our dear Alice just said a couple weeks ago how she was impressed as a child because all of her Roman Catholic girlfriends confessed weekly.

Now, with the advent of the '60s and a turning away from "legalism," confessions have dwindled to next to nothing. It seems that instead of legalism, the "new approach" of stressing that sin isn't so bad, everybody does it, no big deal has led people to (gasp!) BELIEVE these lies they are told, and therefore to see no need in confession any longer.

Alexis

They dismiss the authority, so why would they believe themselves to be obligated to confess?

Terry

I would agree that a huge problem today is, as Pius XII said, the loss of the sense of sin. However, I am old enough to remember the "good old days" and it's true that, thanks to our good scholastics, Catholics had enough guilt to make a staunch Calvinist feel like a libertine. Unfortunately, the Church came out of the scholastic period with nearly everything defined as a sin. Granted, I don't like the extreme that's taught today - nothing is sinful - but there has to be a happy medium somewhere.

"Go EAST young man."

I am East. I work for the Latins, I am not a member.

A SPY! A SPY!!! hehehe

I know Pani Rose. I'm OK.

Ohhhhhhhh well that does make a difference. If one is in favor with the Pani....well....that SAYS something! However, the question becomes...DO you have enough influence with Deacon Stan to keep him out of the Christmas Chocolates? (Ask Pani Rose for more info )