Blair tells Pope to reform Catholicism
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, himself a Roman Catholic, has taken it upon himself to denounce the Vatican's stance on homosexuality. He says it is out of date and does not reflect the views held by the majority of Catholics. To add further insult, Blair, who converted to Catholicism shortly after leaving Downing Street, has had the temerity to suggest that Pope Benedict XVI (pictured with Blair) might consider reforming Catholicism - a religion with more than one billion followers worldwide - in a the same way that Blair reformed Labour, a political party that is likely to lose the next British general election.
Blair, who now earns a living as a public speaker and international diplomat, told Attitude magazine that organised religions face the same dilemma as political parties. He said: "You can either a) Hold on to your core vote, basically, you know, say 'Look let's not break out because if we break out we might lose what we've got, and at least we've got what we've got so let's keep it'. Or b) You say 'Let's accept that the world is changing, and let us work out how we can lead that change and actually reach out'."
The former PM has long been a champion of gay rights and while in office introduced civil partnerships to the UK and lowered the age of consent for gay sex to 16. By contrast, the Catholic church maintains that gay sex is a sin and the Pope caused outrage last year when he said that homosexuality was "a more or less strong tendency ordered towards an intrinsic moral evil".
Describing how his attitude to homosexuality has changed, Blair, who currently heads a religious think tank, outlined his respect for former London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who taught him that "conventional wisdom is not necessarily wise: it can be wrong and it can be just a form of conservatism that hides behind a consensus". He also paid homage to hisa old friend and current Business Secretary (Lord) Peter Mandelson who has been "attacked in certain quarters for being gay and yet, at the same time, I don't believe that has altered in any shape or form people's opinion of him."
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