Another political leader

Tony Blair made big news doing this. Many people speculated whether or not George W. Bush would.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has converted to the Catholic faith.

He had been Baptist. For most people, conversion isn’t exactly a political event. But when you’re a prominent Republican whose name is being mentioned as a possible future candidate for President, well, everything is political.

Much of the coverage has centered around what this conversion means for his political future. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that it’s difficult to pursue the story on many other levels — Gingrich hasn’t been giving interviews about his conversion, as Dan Gilgoff at U.S. News & World Report notes.

That’s because true conversion is personal.