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Catholic World News News Feature

Blair speech will stress role of religion April 03, 2008

Former British prime minister Tony Blair was urge respect for the value of religious faith in a speech at Westminster cathedral on Thursday evening, April 3.

Blair, who entered the Catholic Church shortly after stepping down as prime minister last year, has announced plans to form the Blair Faith Foundation, which will encourage religious activists to take the lead in forming consciences. The former British political leader, who is now working as a special envoy in the Middle East, claims that religion should play a more active role in a global society.

In his speech Blair will argue that the Millennium Development Goals, set by UN officials as benchmarks for the international fight against poverty, should be accepted as representing a consensus understanding of the world's pressing moral obligations. Religious leaders should dedicate themselves to supporting those goals, he argues.

A group of protestors from the Stop the War Coalition, calling attention to Blair's support for military action in Iraq, have called for a noisy public protest of the speech.