Pope Benedict's Tough Talk For Tony Blair

UK Daily Mail's "Pope: Miracles hard to find in Britain" reports on a tough meeting that outgoing PM Tony Blair had with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, expected to be a warm one due to Blair's anticipated conversion to Catholicism.  The Blairs brought Pope Benedict three antique framed pictures of Cardinal Newman who is up for sainthood - to which the pope replied, "Miracles are hard to come by in Britain" - the precursors for sainthood in the Church.

Pope Benedict, in their private meeting, had tough words for Blair on the war in Iraq, same sex marriage and adoption legislation and easy access to abortionand embryonic stem cell research in Britain - on his watch.

The Vatican also put out a less warm statement on the visit.