Britain's outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie have met with Pope Benedict XVI in a private audience at the Vatican, raising speculation he may convert to Catholicism.The meeting with the pontiff comes four days before Mr Blair leaves office, after agreeing to resign amid the British public's dissatisfaction with the country's involvement in the United States-led war in Iraq.
Mr Blair's wife and their four children are Catholic. Over his 10 years in office there have been frequent media reports that Mr Blair planned to join his family's faith.
Mr Blair, who is an Anglican, told The Times newspaper today that the question of his converting to Roman Catholicism has not been entirely "resolved".
"I don't want to talk about it. It's difficult with some of these things," he told the London newspaper.
"Things aren't always as resolved as they might be."
Unnamed sources in London and Rome have dismissed the speculation Mr Blair will use the Vatican trip to convert, saying he wants to speak to the Pope about spreading harmony between Christianity, Islam and Judaism, The Times said.
A spokesman for Mr Blair, who hands over power to finance minister Gordon Brown on Wednesday, said last week he would discuss "as he has in the past" not only religious questions but also world issues such as peace in the Middle East.
Mr Blair, a Protestant, reportedly regularly attends Catholic mass with his family at Chequers, the country retreat of British prime ministers north-west of London.
Britain has never had a Catholic prime minister, though there is no longer a constitutional prohibition.
On Friday, The Guardian newspaper cited unnamed sources saying Mr Blair had been prepared for conversion by a priest who for the past four years has been visiting Chequers quietly to say mass for the Blair family on Saturday evenings.
Despite much speculation about his religious beliefs, Mr Blair has rarely commented on the issue, with his press spokesman Alistair Campbell once telling reporters: "We don't do God".
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