Newt the Baptist Becomes Newt the Catholic

The former Speaker has had a religious conversion:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich converted to Roman Catholicism over the weekend at St. Joseph's Church in Washington, D.C. So far, Gingrich has been conspicuously quiet about his conversion. He didn't mention it in an interview with me earlier this month that focused on his stepped-up efforts to organize religious conservatives and promote religious liberty issues.

An enthusiastic Twitterer, the former speaker has gone tweetless since Saturday. Best I can tell, Newt's one recent mention of Catholicism was a tweet last Tuesday about President Obama's forthcoming appearance at Notre Dame: "It is sad to see notre dame invite president obama to give the commencement address Since his policies are so anti catholic values."

I checked with his media team, which says that Newt is declining interview requests about his conversion for now but that he may open up later in the year.

Well, good for Newt. I'm not sure why one would want to move from a religion heavy on grace to a religion heavy on ritual and liturgy, but to each his own.