"It's not what you say but how you say it."

A mantra much adopted by many people, including my mother.

Take two key examples this last week. First, the Vatican's sympathetic but at the same time considered words about the role of gays in the Catholic church, and then later, on a different topic, Tony Blair's latest polemic on teaching religious tolerance to potential extremists. Two messages which both espouse tolerance, but in rather different fashion; the latter statement hints at further echoes of Blair's holy crusade to liberate the Middle East, so misguidedly started by the second Iraq war.

The two statements and the way they read, are a fair indication of why Pope Francis is considered one of the most popular Popes for some while, and why Tony Blair is still considered - rightly or wrongly - to be one of the most unpopular of Prime Ministers.