ITALY:In the early hours of Saturday morning in Brussels, during the last phase of complex and heated negotiations on a new EU treaty, recalcitrant Polish president Lech Kaczynski turned to British prime minister Tony Blair and asked: "Is it true you are about to convert to Catholicism?"
"Why, do you want to write that into the treaty too?" came the response. The question of Mr Blair's allegedly impending conversion to Catholicism exercised many minds at the weekend as the outgoing British prime minister had a 25-minute audience with Pope Benedict in the Vatican.
Saturday's meeting, however, predictably prompted a Vatican statement strong on political and moral considerations but silent on any private and personal questions of faith that may or may not have been discussed.
According to the Vatican, the pope and Mr Blair had a "frank exchange" on the current international situation, with particular attention on the Middle East and the future of the European Union.
The Vatican statement also indicated an "exchange of opinions" on various laws introduced by the Blair government.
The reference to a "frank exchange" is Vatican diplomatic talk for serious disagreements on major international issues such as the war in Iraq, to which the Vatican has long been opposed.
Likewise, the pope will have expressed his disappointment not only at the EU's failure to acknowledge Europe's Christian roots in its constitution but also about "recently introduced laws" in Britain, relating to stem cell research, abortion, same-sex marriage and adoption by gay couples.
The pope did, however, have some public words of encouragement for Mr Blair as he prepares to leave office, especially in view of "his strong desire to dedicate himself to work for peace in the Middle East".
Although no mention was made of any forthcoming conversion by Mr Blair to Catholicism, many Vatican commentators concluded that the "conversion announcement" has merely been delayed until Mr Blair formally resigns his office.
Britain has never had a Catholic prime minister and Mr Blair will be only too aware of the political correctness of waiting with his conversion announcement until after he has left office.
Commentators pointed to the significance of the fact that the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, joined the pope and Mr Blair at the end of the audience.
Likewise, Mr Blair's gift to Pope Benedict of photographs of the celebrated 19th-century convert to Catholicism, Cardinal John Henry Newman, prompted further speculation of a conversion.