Posted on 03/09/2009 11:02:24 AM PDT by pissant
Buried in an large New York Times Magazine profile of Newt Gingrich is a little nugget of information: A Baptist since graduate school, Gingrich said he will soon convert to Catholicism, his wife’s faith.
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.christianitytoday.com ...
Hopefully he is joining the Benedict XVI/Knights of Columbus wing
CINOs
Vatican hails Blair Church switch
None of the apostates you have listed converted, they were all cultural Catholics who decided that Vatican II meant “do what you like” and were never fully brought to account by their bishops.
But no responsible catechist would accept them as candidates for the Sacraments with their current understanding of the issues.
In what way?
Sounds like he is becoming Catholic because his wife is.
Not to criticize Newt’s motives but this but this is often a different type of conversion than someone who become Catholic because they believe it is the True Faith based on careful analysis of Theology and the Scriptures.
But I wish him the best.
Remember the mnemonic?
"Divorced (Catherine of Aragon),
beheaded (Anne Boleyn),
died (Jane Seymour);
divorced (Anne of Cleves),
beheaded (Catherine Howard),
survived (Katharine Parr)."
Right, sure.
That solves everything.
The Church doesn't recognize marriages that did not take place in the church, so they essentially never happened.
Upon inspection, all of his marriages seem to be invalid:
Newt was not baptised until 1970 or 1971; his first marriage in 1962 was therefore not a Christian marriage at all.
The Church presumes all Christian marriages to be valid until shown otherwise; the divorce culture has made this presumption increasingly shaky, but it still holds.
It doesn’t solve everything, but it does demonstrate the small likelihood of Laura Bush converting to Catholicism.
In view of the fact that his first marriage was a civil marriage and not a sacramental one, the issue moves to his second marriage, which occurred after his baptism. If Marianne Ginther was indeed baptised as well, the case could be made that this marriage was indeed valid, but that would hinge upon the state of mind of the two at that time, which, given the likelihood that the marriage was based on Gingrich’s prior infidelity and the sterility of the marriage, very well may have not been congruent with the Church’s understanding of consent to marriage.
So then wouldn't a marriage that happened after '71 be Christian and therefore valid?
See my reply 53. It could indeed be valid, but the facts of the case make that one seem dubious as well.
Thanks
Think twice, Newt. This Church isn’t as open to divorce as your other one was.
He’s too old. Moloch demands children.
he acts like one
Thank you , yes that was it. But I am certain that Blair did shortly after Brown took over.
That depends who the parties are. Marriages outside of the Church between parties who are not Catholic are recognized as valid by the Church. For a Catholic to marry outside of the Church either a dispensation for disparity of cult; Catholic and non-Christian, or permission for a mixed marriage; Catholic and non-Catholic Christian, is needed.
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