Pro-Life

No Comment from Bishops as Cherie, wife of Former PM Blair, Touts Catholicism While Extolling Contraception

May 23rd, 2008 by Hilary White Print This Article Print This Article ·

Neither the office of the cardinal archbishop of Westminster, nor the bishops of England and Wales had a comment when Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, told a television interviewer this week that contraception is “really important for women”.

Describing herself as a “good Catholic girl,” Blair said on a morning television programme yesterday, “One of the reasons women’s lives have changed is that they have been able to control their fertility, it is an important issue.”

“People seem to be quite shocked that perhaps a Catholic girl even uses contraception but it is really an important thing for women because one of the things about the book is about how women’s lives have changed,” Blair told interviewer Lorraine Kelly.

Blair, a barrister known professionally as Cherie Booth QC, was speaking in an interview on Good Morning Television. She responded to viewers’ questions about her remarks on contraception in her new book, “Speaking for Myself”. In the book about her life as the Prime Minister’s wife, Blair described how her youngest son was conceived during a visit to the Queen’s residence at Balmoral when she forgot to pack her contraceptive equipment.

Tony Blair was received into the Catholic Church by the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster shortly before Christmas 2007 and was invited to give the first of a series of public lectures on faith and public life at Westminster Cathedral in London.

The press secretary of Cherie Blair’s bishop, Cormac Cardinal Murphy O’Connor did not return phone calls from LifeSiteNews.com and the spokesman for the Bishops of England and Wales declined to comment, saying it would not be “appropriate”.

This is not the first time that Cherie Blair has been in public opposition to the teaching of her Church. She is well known as a supporter of abortion and in 2003 while her husband was Prime Minister, was criticised for her support of a project by International Planned Parenthood Federation called “Lust for Life”. Mrs. Blair hosted a private reception at 10 Downing Street for Lust for Life, hoping to raise £100,000 for the organisation.

To contact Cardinal Murphy O’Connor
Archbishop’s House
Ambrosden Avenue
London SW1P 1Q
020 7798 9033
020 7798 9000 (voicemail)

Apostolic Nuncio, Faustino Sainz Muñoz
London SW19 5NE,
54 Parkside, Wimbledon
Phone: 020 8944 7189
Fax: 020 8947 2494

This article is courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com.




  • http://arkanabar.blogspot.com Arkanabar Ilarsadin

    How is it not appropriate to comment on those who use their status as public figures to undermine those who are in authority over them?

  • mkochan

    The undermining of authority in itself is not the issue, it is the leading of souls to destruction that is the issue — what is needed are shepherds who take seriously the protection of the sheep.

  • Richard

    These appear to be “wolves in sheep’s clothing”. Why on earth does this woman claim to be Catholic? I Mr. Blair agrees, why did he enter the Catholic Church? If,indeed, he does not agree it is his responsibility to get his wife to Heaven. So, he better get busy!

  • itsjustdave1988

    To Mrs. Blair and her bishop regarding her “good Catholic” remark, this quote from Servant of God, John Paul II says it all:

    “It is sometimes reported that a large number of Catholics today do not adhere to the teaching of the Church on a number of questions, notably sexual and conjugal morality, divorce and remarriage. Some are reported as not accepting the Church’s clear position on abortion. It has also been noted that there is a tendency on the part of some Catholics to be selective in their adherence to the Church’s moral teachings. It is sometimes claimed that dissent from the Magisterium is totally compatible with being a “good Catholic” and poses no obstacle to the reception of the sacraments. THIS IS A GRAVE ERROR that challenges the teaching office of the bishops of the United States and elsewhere. I wish to encourage you in the love of Christ to ADDRESS THIS SITUATION COURAGEOUSLY in your pastoral ministry, relying on the power of God’s truth to attract assent and on the grace of the Holy Spirit which is given both to those who proclaim the message and to those to whom it is addressed.” (John Paul II, Address to U.S. Bishops, Los Angeles, 16 September 1987).