Devout

If someone were the prominent wife of a former head of state who has publicly supported abortion and contraception and even held a fundraiser for International Planned Parenthood would you label them a devout Catholic. What if she and her husband had called out the Pope on condoms and homosexuality ascribing Church doctrine to “fear” and as a “generational” issue. Now the “devout” label would certainly be used by the New York Times.

Today I saw a tweet via the same Twitter account the Pope used to send his first tweet. The tweet referenced this Vatican News Story.

Most people know her as the wife of the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair – but Cherie Blair is every bit as professionally qualified as her famous husband. An attorney or “Queens Council” as they’re known in the United Kingdom, Cherie Blair is a judge, mediator and an active campaigner on equality and human rights issues. She’s also a devout Catholic and mother of four.
During her days at 10 Downing Street, where she met weekly with charitable institutions in support of their work, she was greatly impressed by the imbalances of world poverty and literacy: far more women than men are poor or illiterate, and the resources of women remain largely untapped in many parts of the world’s economies. So, with a mind to do her part to empower women to help themselves, she set up the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women in 2008.

With financial support and through its business mentoring program, the Foundation helps women in Africa, South Asia and the Middle East to play an increasingly important role in their local economies and societies. With the Foundation’s assistance, often with internet and mobile communications technology, women can generate their own income and develop projects which encourage them to become successful and self sustaining entrepreneurs.

Tracey McClure met Cherie Blair after she spoke to participants at a recent conference in Rome organized by the Women’s Studies Institute at the Pontifical Atheneum Regina Apostolorum. Mrs. Blair said she was surprised and pleased to learn that such an institute exists and urged the Church to do more to acknowledge and support the role and contributions of women to the life of the Church.

Her own Catholic faith, she explains, played an important part in the way she views social and human rights issues and led to her involvement in works of charity from her Liverpool school days when she was an active member of the Young Christian Students movement.

Exactly why is someone in the Vatican so friendly to the Blair’s despite them being very public dissenters? A couple of years back she gave a lecture at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum). This is really unacceptable for Vatican Radio to be pushing her as a “devout” Catholic. How can someone repent if they are confirmed in their evil.