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The Roman Catholic Church has a new member, but he's far beyond the age of any would-be altar boy.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair's conversion to Catholicism in a private ceremony in London last Friday wasn't a surprise to most Britons. He had been edging away from his Anglican roots for years, attending mass on Sundays with his four children and wife, Cherie, who are all baptized Catholics.

But the 54-year-old joins many others who have made the decision to convert later in life. Middle age, some experts say, is a time when many people begin to question their faith — or lack of it.

"A lot of it has to do with confronting death," said Rev. Daniel Donovan, a priest and professor of theology at the University of St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto.

While young people may reflect on their spirituality, those thoughts are often shoved aside by immediate pressures such as childcare, career and paying the rent, he said.

"When you're older, and some of the pressure is relieved, you can kind of think, where do I want to end up?" Father Donovan said.

"In a sense you sort of say, what is my life? And if I would die right now, what have I done?"

One of Canada's most famous converts, Conrad Black, said he had complex reasons for leaving his Anglican roots and converting to Catholicism in 1986, at the age of 42.

"People take this step for many different reasons," Lord Black wrote in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail.

"I think that most people who follow this path would agree that they came to the conclusion that God exists, that Christ was a divinely inspired person, that he told St. Peter to found a church and that the Roman Catholic Church, though riven with many imperfections, is the legitimate continuator of the original Christian church."

Others had their own explanations, Lord Black said, citing high-profile Catholic converts, such as Malcolm Muggeridge, a British author and journalist who surprised many by converting at the age of 79, reportedly because of due to the influence of Mother Teresa; Cardinal John Henry Newman, a famous Anglican convert who shocked 19th-century Britain with his switch; and Oscar Wilde, who reportedly converted on his deathbed.

Young people who convert are often motivated by others, Father Donovan said. Some convert before marriage, if their partner has been raised in another faith. New parents may convert if they want their child raised in a religious household.

But later in life, people often convert for their own inner peace. Some switch because they diverge intellectually on an issue such as gay marriage. Others' faith may be kick-started by a sudden or devastating event: the death of a loved one, a personal crisis, or hitting rock bottom.

"Cleaning up their lives and committing themselves to a religious group can help cement a character change and personality transformation," said Michael Haykin, former principal of the Toronto Baptist Seminary, who now teaches church history at a seminary in Louisville, Ky.

Mr. Haykin said he's noticed a change in the underlying reasons that many people convert these days. In the past, people converted out of fear, shame or guilt over their past actions, he said. Now, people are more interested in enhancing their lives, he said.

"In our generation it's got more to do with mortality, and the meaning of life," he said.

Columnists and political figures speculated that Mr. Blair, now six months out of office, waited until retirement in order to avoid the risk of stirring controversy over his role, as prime minister, in appointing Anglican bishops.

Also as leader, many of his government's positions were at odds with the Catholic Church, including, support for stem cell research, gay adoptions and the legalization of gay civil unions, as well as its resistance to toughening Britain's abortion laws.

Mr. Blair was received into the Catholic Church at a chapel in the residence of the leading Catholic in Britain, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor.

Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor later told the BBC: "This was a gift for Tony, a personal journey, a gift for his family."