Tony Blair's Confession?

[Matilda]

According to The Guardian, Vatican sources have confirmed that Tony Blair has indeed told Pope
Benedict that he wishes to become a Catholic, something long rumoured among people close to him.

According to The Guardian article, though, the Pope left Blair in no doubt as to his views on Blair's
record - the article doesn't mention Iraq, but given the Pope's opposition to the exercise, it is
certainly implied.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,2110067,00.html

Which made me wonder - how will Blair, with his ability to deny the undeniable and spin the
unacceptable, deal with his Confession, mandatory before receiving his First Communion? He is
one of only three people I can think (the others being Bush and Howard) who still has not admitted
that he took his country to war on a lie, a lie of which he had full knowledge before the event, no
matter how he tries to skirt around it. Because of him, thousands of innocents have died and will
continue to die - when he examines his conscience, how will he spin it to himself? And how will
he make reparation for all those people who have been maimed, all those children orphaned, all those
mothers whose children have been taken from them, all those people who have died needlessly? I was
taught that there is no forgiveness without true repentance - and Blair has shown no sign of
repenting anything.

Way back, Henry II was made to walk barefoot in sackcloth and ashes to atone for the murder of Thomas
A'Beckett - a murder which he ordered but did not carry out himself. Looks like a good precedent
to me.

[DemBones DemBones]

1. Actually, when you're received into the Church as an adult,

you don't have to make a First Confession as children do. As I'm sure you know, most adults receive Confirmation and First Communion at the Easter Vigil Mass, a few at other times of the year for special circumstances (such as Lee Atwater's conversion when he was dying. Atwater was Karl Rove's mentor and a nasty piece of work. When he was dying he repented and made a public statement asking forgiveness.)

It doesn't sound as if Blair will wait until next Easter but we'll see. He could confess before or after being received into the Catholic Church but the priest who confirmed me said we only had to confess what we did after we were Catholic, we were essentially absolved of other sins through Confirmation (plus Baptism for adults who hadn't been baptized.) He was ordained before Vatican II so a bit more old school than a lot of priests, so I figured he knew what he was talking about.

Blair has wanted to be Catholic for a long time so perhaps he has examined his conscience and confessed already.

I wonder how many Our Fathers and Hail Marys you have to say for helping to wreck an entire country? :evilgrin:

(Now I'll have to confess uncharitable thoughts!)

[Matilda]

2. I had to make a General Confession when I was received into the Church.

My mother told me I'd been baptised Presbyterian as a baby, but there was no baptismal certificate,
so I was baptised, made a General Confession, and then confirmed by the then Archbishop of Sydney,
Cardinal Gilroy. That was back in 1965, so I don't know whether things have changed since then;
generally we seem to follow the same rules as you do, although we have adults being confirmed at
various Masses throughout the year; we don't seem to have set times except for the children.

I also chastised myself for thinking uncharitable thoughts about Tony Blair, and for being
judgmental, but the thought of Blair trying to admit a mistake even in the privacy of Confession or
in his own head was too much too resist.

I hope it's true that the Pope "spoke frankly" to Tony - it's time someone in authority did.

[DemBones DemBones]

3. I have no idea if it could differ from country to country.

Or from diocese to diocese! The Church is not as organized as it once was.

You could ask your priest if adults now have to make a Confession before being received into the Church.