Another week, another flood of articles about Tony Blair’s supposedly imminent conversion. This one, from the Irish Independent, offers some insight into the guiding force behind this tidal pull across the Tiber — Blair’s wife:

Cherie, as is well known, grew up in a difficult family situation. Her father, the hell-raising actor Tony Booth (who came to fame in ‘Till Death Us Do Part’) had a serious alcohol problem as well as a serious addiction to serial marriages. Her mother was basically a deserted wife and Cherie grew up in a one-parent family.

Unlike many Irish female “Arsees” who whine interminably about the “repression” of their convent schooldays, Cherie remained forever grateful to nuns who encouraged her to study, advance her education and thus become a top-ranking lawyer commanding an annual salary of £300,000 (€445,300).

Faith has always been part of Cherie’s life, and when she and Tony met in 1976, she seems to have influenced him in the same direction. Although she is, of course, far from being that stereotype, the “right-wing Catholic”.

She is, rather, a Left-wing Catholic, much concerned with prisoners’ rights and with other social-justice issues. On sexual morality, Cherie is progressive on gay civil rights – she has acted, as a lawyer, for lesbian fiscal equality: but on issues touching abortion, she is quietly supportive of pro-life causes.

Tony’s own mother, Hazel, had actually been an Irish Protestant from the Donegal region. In fact, the family left Ireland soon after Partition. This may have influenced Blair in his commitment to a settlement in Northern Ireland. In any case, Hazel Blair died when Tony was a young man, and after that, Cherie became his guiding light in matters spiritual.

They married in an Anglican church, but later, Tony took to accompanying his wife and growing family to Mass.

All four children have been baptised and all have been raised as Catholics.

Indeed, he was so enthusiastic about Mass-going that Cardinal Basil Hume had to ask him to refrain from publicly taking Catholic Communion: there was, and is, as yet no agreed arrangement on inter-communion between Catholics and Anglicans. (Wars, after all, have been fought over “transubstantiation” versus “consubstantiation”.)

For at least the last five years, it is said, Blair has been a Roman Catholic in all but name. His final conversion experience is dated to the birth of his fourth child, Leo.

Fascinating stuff. It’ll be more fascinating if any of this conversion talk turns out to be even remotely true. Stay tuned.

Photo: by Kristy Wigglesworth, AP