LONDON (RNS) — Former British prime minister Tony Blair says his religious faith, although rarely expressed in public, was “hugely important” to him but he feared he might be viewed as a “nutter” if he spoke out about it.
Blair, an Anglican who is widely expected to convert to Roman Catholicism within the next few weeks, told the BBC in an TV interview scheduled to be shown on Dec. 2 that “I don't actually think there is anything wrong in having a religious conviction.”
But in Britain, unlike America, “it's difficult if you talk about religious faith in our political system” and that if you do, “frankly, people … think you're a nutter.”
“If I am honest about it,” he said, “yes, of course, it [religious faith] was hugely important. There is no point denying it.”