Having been brought up in a theocracy until the age of 27 - the Republic of Ireland - I have long held the view that living in a secular society is the best option. Religion is a private matter and Church/State should be separate. Cherie Blair is a cradle Roman Catholic and her influence over her husband is well known, but I feel he is a total hypocrite and this "conversion" is a sham. Presumably now the confessional will be a well-trodden path as Blair has blood on his hands - the countless deaths in Iraq as well as that of Dr David Kelly.

Karen, London, UK

When you become Catholic, you receive the Sacraments of Baptism (if you're not already baptized), Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, and Reconciliation. God's pours grace into your life through those sacraments. This is a fresh start. Everybody can make a fresh start, so why not allow him to make one too? It's never too late. I say to Tony Blair, welcome home and Merry Christmas!

Millie, Los Angeles, CA

A war criminal, personally responsible for death and torture around the world, and friend and supporter of the corrupt torture-fan George Bush is now a devout Roman Catholic, and all fellow Catholics can find to condemn is his silence on abortion and stem cell research? Religion truly is disgusting.

Cece, London,

Blair should feel right at home within the most morally corrupt of religious organisations.

Jennifer Hynes, Plymouth, England

Ever thought that Blair is quite mad ?

Of course, it isn't the first time an electorate has been taken in by a lunatic.

jasper, chelmsford,

He would have been better if he had kept faith with the British people.

Dave, manchester,

Both sides of the aisle would surely agree that Tony Blair is an intelligent and informed person. The inspiration behind his public proclamation of faith should encourage non-believers to question their own arrogance. Seek and ye shall find.

John, Connecticut, USA

<<Canon Timothy Russ ... seemed sure that he had had a change of heart. ... He will have admitted to himself that his previous views were not right,” Russ said.>>

Unfortunately it is not enough to have a change of heart, or to admit certain things to oneself. Open, public sin demands an open, public expression of repentance.

Gilbert McAdam, Antipolo, Philippines

In seeing the unrepentant sinner received there is hope for me yet.

Colin, London,

"Well outside the Catholic pale?" I didn't know we had a pale. Is the pale where we Catholics are said to keep the guns and the secret radios?

Mack, Kirbyville, Texas

I couldn't be less interested in Tony Blair becoming a Catholic - or a Buddhist Mon for that mattter.

Rodney Barker, Gainsborough, England

Best regards to Tony, you'll finally back to the true church. Everyone who will accept the teachings and beliefs of the Holy Catholic Church are welcome, don't hesitate to return while there is still time.

Tonton, London,

Welcome, Tony Blair. Let she or he who has not sinned, cast the first stone! God always gives us the opportunity to begin again. Welcome into the Catholic family, welcome home.

Ebai Maurice, Nairobi, Kenya

Well, of course the Roman Catholic Church is the right place for a prime minister who lied to the British Nation from the floor of the house of commons. The Roman Catholic Church has been spreading lies and medieval superstions to people for many a long century. They are, like its latest "prominent " recriut well- versed in the art of deceit and misguiding the guillable populace. Also, cannot Anne Widdecombe yet understand that the Houses of Parliment and the British system of goverment are not subject to the dictates of what pours out of the Vatican, however much she wish it were since her conversion. And of course its not allowing the catholics to feel the full sensation of euphoric zeal when the see and hear one of the converted flock punching another convert below the belt.

Dauddeg, CARDIFF, Wales

Having also been a Catholic my entire life, I'm very intolerant of fellow Catholics who are criticising Tony Blair's conversion. During that process he will have been given the opportunity to make a full confession. What he chose to confess is between him and God, and may well have included some of those government votes he is being derided for. It is not our position as fellow Catholics to judge him, but rather to celebrate his conversion. How dare any British Catholic disagree with a conversion that has obviously been endorsed by our Cardinal. The judgemental comments from Francis Williams and others are disgusting as far as I'm concerned.

And I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only practising Catholic in the country who disagrees with the church's stance on gay rights. It is not 'anti-Catholic' to extend the same civil rights to all members of the population as far as I'm concerned and I sincerely hope that, in my lifetime, the church relaxes its stance on this issue in time.

Jacq Collins, Letchworth, Herts.

Congratulations to Tony Blair. In response to the other comments, the USA Bible Belt is not Catholic, it's a mix of Baptist and other Protestant type faiths. Second, many Catholics do not accept the teachings of the church related to issues such as birth control, abortion, or the idea that only men can be priests. I do not fault Mr. Blair in the least for having a mind of his own. Catholics are as diverse as any other group and do have differences of opinion. I believe their is room for respectful debate within religion.

Karen, Scarborough, Maine, USA,

Before he received the Eucharist for the first time, Mr. Blair would have had to gone through the Sacrament of Penance. If the priest who offered absolution had any doubt as to Mr. Blair's contrition, he would have proscribed further instruction before allowing Mr. Blair to be received into full communion. Mr. Blair does not need to satisfy holier-than-thou Catholics, who are sinners just the same, by giving them a confession as well. By virtue of his acceptance into the Church, they should have faith that he has been absolved of those past sins. He is not a liberal PM anymore. He is a Catholic. Watch that plank in your eye!

Joe, Bridgeport, CT

I fail to see how Blair can be accused of hypocrasy in this case. His spiritual convictions are his own business, but Britain is a secular country with secular politics. We are not a catholic or otherwise religious country.
We all have bought into this secular franchaise that is the UK. If our society demands that abortion be kept legal or that same sex couples should have the same legal rights as heterosexual couples then the chief executive of our secular government must so act, regardless of dogmatic conviction. Catholic interest groups that are crying foul need to remember that we are not a religious country and we dont all share their particular convictions. If anybody wants to live by theocratic rules fine do so, but dont try and force the rest of us to follwo them as well. That is the essence of our secularism.

Wasim, Edin, Scotland

The Tony Blair's policy is now in the hands of God. We pray for the future policy, Welcome, Tony, may God help you to become an ecumenical man of grace working for the christian unity!

natta, milan, italy

Blair Switch Project, Well, it is the pantomime season.

Clive Burghard, LANCING, England

Catholicism as Religion is about form, not about substance. The spiritual path is about "progress not about perfection". Tony Blair has chosen a path that indicates his desire and intent to love God with his whole heart, soul and mind. Lets let God judge this desire, all else is simply commentary. I find it ironic that hard line Catholics(or any other religious fundamentalists) allign themselves with the Pharasees, the party from which anther convert, St. Paul, repudiated upon meeting the Lord. Hurray for Mr. Blair!

Patrick Powers, mission, USA/SD

The final two finger salute to the Protestant British nation from a man who was always a closet Catholic.

J. Heifeitz, London,

I gladly welcome Mr. Tony Blair's whole-hearted acceptance of the Roman Catholic faith. Just as the old Saul became the new Paul in the Holy Bible, may Mr. Blair strive to do good wherever he goes... All for God's greater glory!

Gene de Jesus, Iloilo City, Philippines

Paul from Wassenaar,

That's an interesing choice of words: "suspend all rational thought".

Isn't that exactly what atheists do when they claim that the universe has no cause whatsoever?

Kevin, London,

Why could not the Church of England have been good enough for him and his family? Ample room therein for one's own spirituality to develop.

Andrew, Eastern Canada,

So, he's earning Premier-League-footballer money by giving talks (on what? can't be that interesting or worth the entrance ticket). He will soon be able to pay off the mortgage on the swanky London house. No wonder he's giving thanks to God!

JF, Canterbury , UK

For me this is a very sad day, and one i shall find hard to reconcile with. Tony Blair enabled secularism to take over our society, and pioneered the way to create laws which for the first time in the history of this country were no longer based on the Christian morals that we have received guidance from for centuries. He created the very society that disabled him to declare his own belief in God. i hope i shall never deny my Our Lord as he has done. The society he has left behind is broken, and built upon a vacuum that worships only a 24 hour consumer lifestyle. As a Christian and Roman Catholic we must believe in forgiveness and repentance - and we should honour the decision made by the senior members of our Church. This will not be an easy task.

Caroline Mayhew, Whitesmith,

It is nothing short of amazing how many people professing religiosity and those mocking religion are so willing to judge Mr Blair.

David, Minneapolis, USA

As a lifelong Catholic, I hold Tony Blair in the deepest contempt for the damage he has done to the country, most particularly in his governments dishonesty, relentless discrimination against families, and the dramatic growth in the numbers of children born outside marriage with only one parent, feeding many of the social ills that blight this country. Add to this his record on gay rights and abortion and it is hard to escape feeling resentment that he has been accepted into the Catholic Church without an appropriately public repudiation of his actions while in government. Forgiveness is available to every sinner, but only after confession!
Without such public repudiation from Blair, the Catholic Church is sending the message that his record of behaviour in Government is consistent with Catholic values, when it patently is not.

Clive Owens, Gloucestershire, England

Further to my prevouse weeks letter to the editor , I mentioned about the handing of control of Basra by the Brittish troops to the Iraqes in order to establish democrasy (although not as perfect as in the Amerrica ) proved that Tony Blair was right after all. Only a few hundred thousand Iraqis have died and perhaps a few more thousand will die before things settle - but I though it was a price worth paying for. I also mentioned I was hoping the the Tony Blair would become a catholic and so that the Pope would be able to cannonise him. But myself not being a catholic I was not certain if there was allready a St. Tony. I am thrilled that Tony Blair has now become a catholic at last although some sceptic friends of mine beleive he has become a catholic just to pull the wool over the public's eyes in order to avoid being prosecuted for war crimes!! I know that goverments do indulge in certain amount of spin - but ONLY if absolutely necesseay for public good - don't you agree ?

karnail singh, Bidston, wirral

Faith in Christ and in His Church on earth is a gift that comes from God himself through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Mr Blair, a sinner like the rest of us, has been offered this gift and he has freely accepted it with all that obedience , first to his enlightened conscience: ( ' I drink to the Pope; but I drink first to conscience '. Cardinal Newman ): and then to the Church itself entails. May God bless him and may he be happy in the service that he will continue to give to the cause of justice where injustice reigns.

Phili Panter, Mirano. Venice, Italy.

Is there enough holy water in the catholic church to wash away the blood from the hands of this evil greedy convert?

Simon Hare, H0ve, East Sussex

Tony Blair was daft to say that mention of his faith would have made him seem like a nutter. Many respected leaders have had faith and, held in moderation, there is nothing wrong with that. What the nutter does is use his faith to justify going to war when reasoned argument for it has failed.

Douglas Brown, Ayrshire, Scotland

Having been brought up a catholic, and having practised everything that goes with catholicism for over 70 years, I cannot accept this "apparent" conversion. How can someone who championed abortion, gay rights and other anti catholic measures now be against them? We could not trust him in office and it follows that he will not be trustworthy in church. No doubt the priests will quote the parable of the prodigal son to justify their acceptance of Blair but but this cannot be an adequate defence for their manipulation at his hands. As a catholic I am appalled. As a caring thinking responsible human being I am disgusted.

Francis Williams, Northampton,

Why Mr. Blair carries out this change I cannot understand, I cannot imagine that Mr. Blair can neither politically nor financially profit advantageously from this

Cav.Capistrano, Anduze, France

Tony for Pope!

guy, amsterdam, NL

Of course Tony Blair, as a baptised Christian would 'have to go over all his past actions' before being received into the Catholic Church. Maybe not in public, but in the sacrament of confession. Then the future does 'start here' as Monsignor Faley put it, as it does for all practising Catholics.

Katherine Gray, London, UK

You've got to hand it to old Tone. He never misses a trick. Think of all the big bucks to had from appearance fees on the USA Bible Belt circuit.

Doug George, Antibes, France

A person's beliefs, including ministers and PMs, are private matters and should not influence the conduct of government, There is no contradiction between a minister or PM who holds certain religious beliefs yet promotes and supports policies that may be contrary to those beliefs. Just think through the worrying implications of expecting or requiring consistency in this respect - especially in a pluralistic , multi-religious (and non-religious) society. The French have the right attitude to the seperation of Church and State

wilfrid legg, paris, france

To think that we were led to war by a man who (we now know) regularly read passages from the bible for guidance frightens me. If he needs such texts for guidance, then it is clear that he is not capable of reaching a rational and reasoned decision, simply based on the facts that are known to him.

The fact that Mr. Blair seems to have managed to do a complete about-face on such issues as abortion so that he can now accept the Catholic creed simply reinforces my view that he must have some perverse perspective on life that whilst clearly being in tune with his (personal) religious beliefs, is completely inconsistent with any form of rational analysis of the facts.

Religion (well faith) is a wonderful thing, but it has no place in politics.

Jim Morrish, London,

I find it deeply disturbing that an apparently intelligent person can believe in mediaeval fairy stories. How can someone of his intelligence suspend all rationale thought and believe in such nonsense?

Paul, Wassenaar, The Netherlands

Its seems entirely appropriate that Tony Blair has found his spiritual home in the religion of Silvio Berlisconi.....

David Brown , Plymouth, England

Why?

Rob, Brum, UK

It seems like a desperate effort by another publicity hungry has-been to keep his name in the newspapers. How does his 'faith' reconcile with all the falsehoods he has spun, and all the deaths and misery his actions have caused ?

Lezli Taubler, London, uK

Blair in office was as far away from the teachings of Christ, humility, poverty and peace, as imaginable. War, greed and money define him and now a thin veneer of piety is to cover up his past. A sickening sight to see him kneel down in the prayer for peace.

gundi royle, sydney, australia

Blair has been a Roman Catholic at heart for years but it would appear he loves the position of PM more than his God.

If he could not be honest to his God, what chance have we mortals have with Blair?

george lee, london, uk

As a fellow Catholic with Tony Blair all I have to say is welcome. You have obviously taken a long journey to join us but ignore those bigots within our church who don`t want you with us but tough. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but he who was rich became poor so that we may be rich. Remember what greater Christmas present can you have Tony than receiving Our Lord. I hope that your journey in faith will continue God Bless.

Andrew P Bourne, CASTLEFORD, UK

Being a Christian is about far. far more than a profession of faith or attendance at a particular denomination on Sunday. Amongst other things, it demands honesty, humility and a constant willingness to critique one's own actions and motivations. It also requires a preparedness to confess one's faith - something Tony Blair eschewed for fear of being thought a 'nutter'. I fear he showed few of these qualities in office even though an ardently professing Christian throughout. I can only hope that, away from power, he will be a better advertisement for his faith.

david abbott fisher, boston, USA