VATICAN CITY (AFP) – Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair met Saturday with Pope Benedict XVI in a private audience at the Vatican, heightening speculation that the outgoing premier may convert to Catholicism.
A Vatican statement said afterwards that they had discussed “particularly delicate subjects”, including the Middle East, the future of the European Union and recent unspecified legislation passed in Britain.
It made no mention of any possibility of Blair changing his faith.
The meeting with the pontiff came four days before Blair leaves office after 10 years in power.
Blair was accompanied by his wife Cherie, who is a Catholic and greeted the pope following the private 25-minute talk with her husband.
Blair and the pope were also joined after their discussions by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the archbishop of Westminster and head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, further fuelling the media speculation about Blair’s conversion.
Blair’s choice of gift for Benedict also raised eyebrows — a portrait of John Henry Cardinal Newman, a 19th century Anglican prelate who converted to Catholicism. After his visit to the Vatican, Blair had lunch at the British Catholic College in Rome, the first British government leader to do so.
Blair, an Anglican in a country that has never had a Catholic premier, has triggered intense interest about his personal and professional plans for the future after he hands over the reins of power to finance minister Gordon Brown on Wednesday.
The Times reported Saturday that Blair said the question of his becoming a Catholic had not been entirely “resolved”.
“I don’t want to talk about it. It’s difficult with some of these things,” he told the London newspaper.
“Things aren’t always as resolved as they might be.”
Unnamed sources in London and Rome dismissed the rumours Blair would use the Vatican trip to convert, saying he wanted to speak to the pope about spreading harmony between Christianity, Islam and Judaism, The Times reported. It was his third visit to the Vatican, and his second with the current pope.
A spokesman for Blair said last week he would discuss “as he has in the past” not only interfaith questions but also world issues such as peace in the Middle East.
Before going into their private talks Saturday, Blair and Pope Benedict greeted each other and talked about the European Union summit, which Blair had attended before coming to the Vatican.
“I heard it was a success,” the pope said to Blair, who confirmed that the talks on an outline for a new EU treaty had ended in accord.
The reference in the Vatican statement to British legislation was thought to refer to a law obliging adoption agencies to accept applications from homosexual couples, which upset the Catholic Church.
Talk of conversion during his decade in power has dogged Blair, who reportedly regularly attends Catholic mass with his family at Chequers, the country retreat of British prime ministers north-west of London.
Despite much speculation about his religious beliefs, Blair has rarely commented on the issue, with his press spokesman Alistair Campbell once telling reporters: “We don’t do God.”
The Daily Telegraph, quoting Church sources and friends of the prime minister, said Friday Blair may announce his conversion soon after meeting the pope, while also noting that his views on abortion, stem cell research and other moral issues are at odds with traditional Catholic teachings.
The Vatican also opposed the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq in which London was Washington’s main ally.
The newspaper suggested that Blair may have been reluctant to convert during his tenure in office for fear of a potential conflict with his role in appointing Anglican bishops.
He may have also been wary of doing so while playing a key mediating role in the Northern Ireland peace process between the province’s Catholic and Protestant communities.
In his last months in office, Blair has steadfastly defended Britain’s role in Iraq against mounting public opposition while listing efforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a top priority.
