Gingrich
to Convert
Posted by Tom
McFeely
Wednesday, March 04, 2009 11:23 AM
Newt Gingrich listens to the Pope last
April in Washington. (Tim Drake)
The sharp eyes of Christianity
Today (and of Register Associate Editor Tom Wehner)
spotted a religious news nugget in this recent New York
Times profile
of Newt Gingrich.
The news: The architect of the 1990s �Republican
Revolution� plans to convert to Catholicism.
Here�s the relevant excerpt from the Times
article:
�At a moment when the role of religious fundamentalism in
the party is a central question for reformers, Gingrich,
rather than making any kind of case for a new enlightenment,
has in fact gone to great lengths to placate Christian
conservatives. The family-values crowd has never completely
embraced Newt, probably because he has been married three
times, most recently to a former Hill staff member, Callista
Bisek. In 2006, though, Gingrich wrote a book called
�Rediscovering God in America� � part of a new canon of
work he has done reaffirming the role of religion in public
life. The following year, he went on radio with the
evangelical minister James Dobson to apologize for having been
unfaithful to his second wife. (A Baptist since graduate
school, Gingrich said he will soon convert to Catholicism, his
wife�s faith.)�
Update: This post has been updated with a photo,
taken by Register Senior Writer Tim Drake, of Gingrich
attending Pope Benedict XVI�s address last April at the
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
in Washington.
Says Tim, �I recall wondering to myself at the time,
�Is Newt Catholic, or is he converting, or is he simply
interested in hearing the Pope?��
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