Urbi & Orbi: Tony Blair opens the huge alms bag

Neo-convert Blair & Pope

British ex-premier Tony Blair has launched his “Tony Blair Faith Foundation” in New York on May 30, 2008. The ambitious charity is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars of funding to rescue religion and sell it as a force for good. The focus of its activities will be on interfaith dialogue – after 9/11 a bestseller in the Western world.

With its headquarters in New York and an “interfaith dialogue and conference center” in London, the new charity is according to Tony Blair “doing reasonably well in raising money in both places”. Supporters speak of tens of millions of dollars initial funding.

Tony Blair had been reticent about his religious ambitions while he was prime minister, not to alienate Britain’s largely secular society. Once his then spokesman, Alastair Campbell, told reporters "We don't do God". But his biographer Anthony Seldon described him a “profoundly religious figure”, whose faith had always been a major influence on his politics. Last year, Blair told TV chat show host Michael Parkinson he had prayed to God when deciding whether to send troops into Iraq.

In December, he converted from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism. The Vatican, says Blair, is very supportive of his new interfaith venture.

[Bulletin #175]