The Newt Evangelization: Gingrich to become Catholic

Deacon's Bench ^ | March 3, 2009 | Deacon Greg Kandra

[NYer]

Buried deep inside this long and wonkish profile of Newt Gingrich in Sunday's New York Times, was this little nugget that, I suspect, went largely unnoticed:

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.)

PHOTO: by Nigel Parry for the New York Times.

[annalex]

"Remarriage" is never mentioned, however

Right here:

he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery. (Mt 5:32)

[firebrand]

OK, you know what I meant. Nothing allowing remarriage is mentioned.

[annalex]

It doesn’t have to be mentioned. If there was no sacramental marriage, the second apparent marriage is the first sacramental marriage. That is what annulment is, a finding that there was no sacramental marriage.

[firebrand]

Now you are confusing the actual adultery with the intention to commit adultery right from the very first. The intention, to all sensible people, would annul the marriage. The adultery itself would be grounds for putting the person away but not for remarrying, if you accept the fact that the Gospel doesn't discuss, and therefore doesn't allow, lawful remarrying in this case.

How can anyone know about the intention from the first? So how can other people make the decision?

[annalex]

I am not sure I understand. An apparent marriage can be null for a variety of reasons; a lack of intention to remain faithful is just one of them.

An adultery committed after the marriage is contracted, by the way, is not grounds for annulment, even though a divorce may be advisable in some cases.

[firebrand]

Well, I know that. Of course there are other reasons. We're not talking about a case that is clear-cut. It still devolves on the people who got married, though. They don't need a court of law to examine their own motives and conscience.

And of course I know the second thing too. You are the one getting the two confused.

[TradicalRC]

Mr. Gingrich was 19 and his bride was 26,

That was nothing. His wife is twenty-three years younger than he and I guess they had an extramarital affair while he was still married to his last wife.

[sitetest]

Dear TradicalRC,

Are you laying out the groundwork for his next annulment?

;-)

sitetest

[TradicalRC]

I’m just saying...

[stripes1776]

He is a brilliant man.

Sir Isaac Newton was a brilliant man. Newt is a history professor who entered politics. He was a good strategist and tactician. But like many intellectuals he forget that the mind and the penis are part of one body. If a man cannot control his own appetites, how does that qualify him to make laws that control the appetites of other people?

How does a man who has been married three times enter the Catholic Church? I would suppose through repentance and forgiveness. But if his wife is Catholic, why did she have an affair with a man who was married? He did marry her eventualy, so I suppose she feels good about that.

[annalex]

They don't need a court of law to examine their own motives and conscience

They do if they want to legally marry following that.

getting the two confused.

Please explain what did I get confused.

[annalex]

He was a good strategist and tactician

Yes. Even, perhaps, brilliant. In 1994 few expected the upset in the House. I agree that the wreck of his marriage was extremely disappointing, and his fault.

How does a man who has been married three times enter the Catholic Church?

Easily, like a mass murderer or a golf cheat would. We are not an elite institution. The question is, would he be able to receive communion, and that hinges on whether he wants to maintain a common household with the third wife, and if so, if he can obtain annulment.

[Celtman]

Become a Catholic! That should finish his chances to be the GOP candidate - never happened.

Indeed.  The man is committing political suicide.

[Philo-Junius]

For every crucifixion there will be, in God’s time, a resurrection.

[Philo-Junius]

The Greek in Matthew is “porneia” which includes, but is not limited to fornication. A better translation is “impurity,” which encompasses sexual impropriety in general, including improper consent to the marriage and its consummation.

[Cincinna]

The Evangelical Christian movement in the US has grown enoirmously in the last 50 years. Fifty years ago, they were not a key factor in elections. Now they are.

IMHO it is not a question of prejudice or antipathy, but a question of Theology, Many Evangelicals believe the RC Church is the Church of Satan. The Scots-Irish are vehemently anti-Rome, and most would never vote for a Catholic.

[nina0113]

I find it hard to believe that in the half century since then, the US has gotten more religiously conservative.

Not more religiously conservative - more vehemently secular. Everyone in America knows where the Church stands on abortion, gay marriage, contraception, and divorce. If a faithful Catholic is elected to the presidency in this climate, it will be at the hand of God.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Become a Catholic! That should finish his chances to be the GOP candidate - never happened.

I guess that means that Sarah Palin (born Catholic) and Bobby Jindal (converted to Catholicism) are out. So the GOP is going to nominate a Mormon for religious reasons.

[TradicalRC]

The Evangelical Christian movement in the US has grown enoirmously in the last 50 years.

Indeed, but by and large they are not really all that conservative at least 25% Voted for Obama. BO's record was very well known on abortion and socialism before the election. Wheaton,IL is a bastion of evangelicalism and they supported their secular messiah. In the future, watch as evangelicals embrace civil unions, then gay marriage.

Many Evangelicals believe the RC Church is the Church of Satan.

Sounds like old school Southern Baptists, I know of no evangelicals that hold that view.

[TradicalRC]

Not more religiously conservative - more vehemently secular. Everyone in America knows where the Church stands on abortion, gay marriage, contraception, and divorce. If a faithful Catholic is elected to the presidency in this climate, it will be at the hand of God.

I suppose a plausible argument could be made that the culture has moved from a conservative protestantism in the fifties to a militant secularism in the oughts, with the 'catholic' president a hiccup along the way. Catholics by and large have absorbed the protestant idea of do-it-yourself theology and distinguish themselves ethically from the rest of the culture not at all.