Esteban -  2003-06-17 03:16:14

Tony Blair et Jean Paul II. Pàs de communion

Vatican rolls out red carpet for PM and his wife

The Prime Minister's wife Cherie Blair fulfilled a long-held dream when she and her husband attended Mass in the Pope's private chapel last week.
Amid touching scenes, Mrs Blair and two of her children received communion while the Prime Minister and his youngest son Leo were given personal blessings by the Holy Father.
And it has emerged that the previous day when the two leaders first met, two-year-old Leo broke free from his babysitter and approached the Pope, who with obvious delight reached out to him and kissed him gently.
The two incidents provided the intense emotional highlights of a meeting between the Pope and Mr Blair which, with the Iraq crisis growing by the day, created worldwide headlines.
Mr Blair, who had earlier met Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, arrived at the Vatican with his wife, who is a Catholic, and three of their four children.
And while the primary factor in the visit was a discussion about the Iraqi situation, the visit proved an eye-opening experience for all concerned.
At the end of their 30-minute private conversation which lasted 30 minutes, Mr Blair presented his family and entourage to the Pope, starting with Mrs Blair who wore a black mantilla.
Sources say she was filled with emotion at meeting the Pope, whom she openly admires, and then the show was stolen by Leo's impromptu welcome. The couple then presented the Holy Father with a porcelain vase and a bronze statuette of Queen Margaret of Scotland, while the Pope gave Mr Blair a set of medallions of his pontificate and gave Cherie and her children sets of mother of pearl rosary beads.
During their stay, papal chiefs respected the prime minister's request to maintain the private nature of his visit and in response to their wishes, a special two-hour visit of the most hallowed sites in the Vatican was arranged.
A Vatican monsignor gave the family a private viewing of the Sistine Chapel, the Scala Regia, parts of the Vatican museum and St Peter's Basilica and also took them to the tomb of Blessed John XXIII, which Cherie had asked particularly to visit.
'They saw more than most Kings or Queens who visit here,' a Vatican source said.
Maximum privacy and security surrounded the visit and few details have emerged about the conversations between the Pope and the Blairs. However some national papers in the UK are openly speculating that Mr Blair may convert to Catholicism when he eventually relinquishes the reins of power.