Tony Blair becomes a Catholic

LONDON, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair officially converted to Catholicism at a service in a chapel in Westminster.

The ceremony followed a spate of rumors that Blair would convert following a meeting with Pope Benedict XIV during the summer, the Telegraph reported Saturday.

Blair's family is Catholic and he regularly attended services at Westminster Cathedral.

Blair's parish priest, Rev. Timothy Russ, said Blair discussed the conversion with him three years ago, but warned Blair he had "some way to go" on moral issues such as abortion and stem cell research.

Russ said in a recent book that Blair also discussed becoming a deacon in the Catholic Church.

The late Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Basil Hume, wrote then Prime Minister Blair in 1996 he should stop taking Communion because he was not a Catholic at the time.