London, England, Jul 27, 2008 / 11:31 am
A priest who is a close family friend and former tennis partner of former prime minister Tony Blair has been celebrating 60 years of life as a Catholic priest.
Fr. John Caden realized he wanted become a priest from a very early age and went to Ushaw College. He has been serving the Catholic community at Sedgefield, County Durham for 42 years despite being told "it wasn't the sort of place you'd want to stay for life."
The Universe reports that the 85-year-old priest baptized the four Blair children and was one of the few present at the former Labour leader's reception into the Catholic Church.
Fr. Jack, as he is affectionately known, has many special memories of his time at Sedgefield, including sharing a meal and getting a round of drinks for Blair and the U.S. president George W. Bush.