CHERIE Blair appeared to challenge Catholic teaching on artificial birth control yesterday as she defended the use of contraception and spoke about its impact on women's lives.
Mrs Blair, who described herself as a "good Catholic girl", said the ability to control their fertility had "changed" women's lives, in an interview on GMTV with Lorraine Kelly.
Her remarks came after Ms Kelly told Mrs Blair e-mails from viewers
referred to her contraceptive arrangements following an admission in her memoirs that she had not packed her "contraceptive equipment" for a visit to Balmoral, which resulted in her pregnancy with her youngest son Leo.
Mrs Blair said: "People seem to be quite shocked that perhaps a Catholic girl even uses contraception. But it is really an important thing for women because one of the things about the book is about how women's lives have changed.
"One of the reasons women's lives have changed is that they have been able to control their fertility it is an important issue."
Mrs Blair's remarks came after she spoke of the ten "fantastic" years she had enjoyed in Downing Street, a time when she had met the Queen and two Popes.
She said meeting two Popes was a "huge thing" for a "good Catholic girl."
Her remarks on contraception come after a strong defence earlier this month by pope Benedict XVI of the 1968 Papal letter Of Human Life, a controversial document written by then Pope Paul VI which set out the Church's case against artificial birth control.
Last night John Deighan, parliamentary officer for the Catholic Church in Scotland, said the use of contraception had resulted in a decline of moral values.
Describing Mrs Blair as being "misled", he urged her to re- examine her faith.
He added: "We have that brand of Catholic that think they can redefine the Church's teaching for themselves and she falls into it.
"Since the 1960s, the contraceptive mentality has had a huge impact. Cherie Blair has had her values formed by that cultural change.
"All the things Pope Paul Vl predicted about the decline in morality in society (have] come true.
"(Mrs Blair] needs to examine her faith more and come to a better understanding of it.
"She would see the damage that would come about from rejecting the Church's teachings."
However, charities rounded on the Church's stance yesterday and stressed the importance of having impartial advice on contraception.
Simon Blake, chief executive of Brook, the young people's sexual health charity, said:
"The availability of contraception has revolutionised the ability of women to control and manage their sexual and reproductive health.
"Contraception is legal in this country and it is really important that young people in education know they have a right to contraception and there are health benefits to contraception.
"Providing young people with access to sexual health services is absolutely crucial so that they get the support and information to look after their health."
Tony Blair, the former prime minister, was received into the Catholic Church shortly before Christmas and gave a public lecture earlier this year at Westminster Cathedral.
The Blairs have brought up all four of their children as Catholics. And yesterday, Mrs Blair revealed their youngest son, Leo, who also celebrated his eighth birthday yesterday, made his First Holy Communion at the weekend in Westminster Cathedral.
In her interview, Mrs Blair heaped praise on the Queen, speaking of her kindness towards her.
"The Queen was very kind on a number of occasions, including letting me bring my mother to one of the events I went to and being very nice to my mum," she said.
Mrs Blair said it was a "very special thing" to go to Balmoral, adding: "The Royal Family were very kind and welcoming and did a lot to put us at ease.
"The Queen, in particular, was very kind to me and I shall forever be grateful for that."
Asked if the publication of her memoirs, Speaking For Myself – which was published last week – undermined Gordon Brown, Mrs Blair said it was not a political book but was a "woman's book" about her life.
BACKGROUNDCATHOLIC teaching on contraception and abortion has been anything but consistent over the years. What most people think of as "the Catholic position" on these issues dates from the 1930 encyclical Casti Connubii of Pope Pius XI. Prior to that, church teaching was an amalgam of various teachings. The Pope decided to tidy up the tradition and change it by saying that contraception and sterilisation were sins against nature and abortion was a sin against life. Earlier this month Pope Benedict XVI strongly defended the 1968 Papal encyclical Humanae Vitae, the controversial papal document against artificial birth control. For most adult Catholics, this is the clearest pronouncement by the Church on the immorality of contraception, written by Pope Paul VI, who taught that marriage requires of a "husband and wife an awareness of their mission of responsible parenthood".
