Newt Gingrich: My Third Wife Wants Me to be a Good Catholic (Cenk @ Huffington Post)

[ihavenobias]

By Cenk Uygur

Newt Gingrich has converted to Catholicism. He apparently has the zeal of the converted because he is already attacking Obama for having anti-Catholic values. He the other day about Obama giving the commencement speech 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."

Newt has been divorced twice, married three times and left one of his wives when she was in the hospital with cancer. Stop me when I get to pro-Catholic values. Newt is also in favor of the death penalty, which is also against Catholic values. How come no one ever protests that?

Obama is going to Notre Dame and people claiming to be devout Catholics are up in arms. They were just as concerned about John Kerry when he was running for president. They even wanted to deny him communion. How come no one ever protests or denies communion to pro-death penalty politicians?

The answer is because religion has been turned into a political farce in this country. Nobody gives a damn what the Bible actually says or what the religions are supposed to stand for. The Religious Right have simply inserted the Republican platform for where the Bible used to be.

The pope was against the Iraq invasion. Has any politician in America been denied communion because they were for the war? The Bible says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven. Has any politician been chastised by any of the major religious figures in America for providing further tax cuts for the wealthy?

It's a joke. But now Newt has taken the joke one step further. He is apparently converting because his third wife is Catholic. Does no one see the irony of this: My third wife wanted me to be a good Catholic!

But don't worry, . How do I know? Because he is a registered Republican. That's apparently all you need these days.

By the way, I will be speaking at Notre Dame a month before President Obama does...

[Captain Hilts]

1. I think the ship has left the dock for being a good Catholic. nt

[Warpy]

16. Yeah, two wives ago.

[D-Lee]

22. Pst ... the first marriages were not in the Catholic Church

as far as I know ...

[dbonds]

2. The whole concept of 'third wife' eliminates that possibility.

[ihavenobias]

8. Well, apparently not if you're a Republican. n/t

[Gormy Cuss]

11. Well, the beauty of it is, this is his first wife as a Roman Catholic.

Those other two don't count in the eyes of the Church. If this one doesn't work out Newtie can change faiths again.

[ihavenobias]

38. Interesting, I didn't know that. n/t

[KitSileya]

40. That's not true.

Two people who get married outside the Church has a valid marriage in the eyes of the Church, unless one of them has been married already, or one of them is a Catholic who doesn't get the necessary dispensations for getting married outside the church. So unless Newt's previous two wives were both divorcees or Catholic, at least one of the marriages is valid, and he is living in sin right now. If the first marriage was valid, the second and third weren't, unless the first wife died before the third marriage was contracted. If the second marriage was valid, the third isn't, again unless the second wife was dead before he remarried.

The Church recognizes the marriages of two non-Catholics, as long as they're not a same-sex couple, or either has a living divorced spouse.

[Gormy Cuss]

47. If that's the case, don't you think Newtie sought annulments for those prior marriages?

Even former Dem Congressman Joe Kennedy sought an annulment so that he would have a church-recognized second marriage.

Also, the Roman Catholic Church only recognizes holy matrimony so if either of Newt's earlier marriages were civil ceremonies they wouldn't count.

I'm assuming Newt had to do penance for having an affair with the current Mrs. while he was still married to #2, since he publicly admitted the affair.

Frankly, I don't know why the Church would want him.

[KitSileya]

48. It's not about not wanting him, it's about not refusing him.

The Lord's first saint was a thief that was given capital punishment - while unarguably Newt is worse, the church isn't going to deny anyone who sincerely wants to join her.

If both Newt and his first wife weren't Catholic when they married (nor any form of Orthodox catholic) their marriage was/is valid no matter where they got married, as long as the vows were made in public. He would therefore need an annulment. However, if his wife has died since then (didn't she have cancer?) his second marriage would be invalid, because his first wife was alive when it was contracted, but then his third would be valid, since he'd be considered a widower.


There's really only two exceptions - if both were unbelievers when they married, and one of them becomes a Christian, they may invoke the Pauline privilige, and consider themselves not bound (i.e., allowed to remarry) and the Petrine privilege, where a baptised person who marries an unbaptised one may in certain circumstances be allowed to remarry, witht eh dispensation of the Pope.

It does seem like it's easier to get an anullment in the US than in most of the rest of the world, and statistics bear me out on that; however, that doesn't mean that Newt didn't get his marriage ducks in a row in a proper fashion. I don't know the specifics of his case, so I can't judge (not that I'm supposed to judge anyway.)

[TahitiNut]

19. Not unless he was married in the Church ... the Catholic sacrament of MatriMONEY.

:shrug:

[Horse with no Name]

32. It's kind of like that thing they do

where you can get your virginity back...these assclowns have an answer for everything!

[dbonds]

34. I bet they make a fortune on that.

[PA Democrat]

3. If hypocrisy were fatal, the Republican Party would be long gone.

[ihavenobias]

25. So true. n/t

[Mari333]

4. The Pope says wait one goshdarned minute, Newt...nt

[Binka]

5. I Hope Newt's #3 Likes Cock 24/7 Because She Is Married To One n/t

[redqueen]

6. "How come no one ever protests or denies communion to pro-death penalty politicians?"

Brilliant piece... thank you!

[Ilsa]

7. Will a priest let Newt into the church, or does he have to kill his first two wives first?

[Jefferson23]

9. K&R, sadly the Vatican would consider Newt more in step with their

views, more inclined to over look his hypocrisy as they are great at denying their own. Speak the words, pro-choice, equal rights for gays etc. and they are done with you. The Vatican is not only responsible for allowing child predators to victimize children, they have aided the predator so as to avoid criminal charges. Even when they have had to make concessions, the Vatican then uses gays to explain why the church has child sexual predators in the first place. They have their priorities, the death penalty and adultery is not high on the list.

Newt and the Vatican are a perfectly suited hypocritical match, and Newt knows it.

I hope that Cenk and surrogates for Obama will continue to point out the hypocrisy, Newt shouldn't get a pass even though the Vatican would have no problem obliging.

[ihavenobias]

36. Sad but true. n/t

[pleah]

10. Hypocracy, adultery(all those divorces, I mean annulments), must be super rich,

pro-war, apparently the Church has no problem with all that.

[AwakeAtLast]

12. I R'd it on the title alone

Outstanding! :applause:

[OhioChick]

23. Same here. n/t

[MisterP]

13. I have a Papal saying you may want to repeat every morning and evening:

it goes something like this

[LeftHandPath]

14. Catholics are the most screwed up people on Earth...

and before anyone bashes me over the head, I grew up Catholic, and bear the scars of the childhood guilt to prove it.

I wonder what Newt thinks about raping little boys.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

18. Just because you grew up Catholic

doesn't give you the right to broadbrush them with your bigotry.

[LeftHandPath]

21. Its not bigotry....

I detest all religions equally.

I just detest the ones that permit molestation of children and unequal rights for women with a little more fervor.

Go ahead and ask me about my experiences growing up Catholic, I'll be happy to share them with you. It wont take you but 2 or 3 sentences to understand why I feel the way I do.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

24. It's fine to detest Catholicism or any other religion.

But you said "Catholics are messed up". That goes to a personal level.

[Maru Kitteh]

53. It IS bigotry.

It's like hating all Muslims because of some of the F'd up Taliban or hating all atheists because some of them on this board are unmitigated pricks.

[JerseygirlCT]

46. Oh, I don't think so.

I also grew up Catholic. And have been pleased to know a majority of them are quite entirely sane. Now the boys in Rome might be another thing altogether.

[FightingIrish]

15. Newt gets baptized and thinks he can now speak for Notre Dame

Maybe he can also coach football. I think it's important to separate those who speak for the university from those who speak from the sidelines to advance their own political agenda.

Here's a great editorial about how wrong these people are:


Notre Dame's Obama flap
Attempts to disinvite the president as commencement speaker are an unwelcome intrusion of religion into academic life.

After Barack Obama was elected president, Pope Benedict XVI sent him a congratulatory letter. So did Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. At the time, neither the Vatican nor the Catholic bishops were under any illusion about Obama's opposition to outlawing abortion, a position that obviously put him at odds with the church's agenda. That didn't prevent them from welcoming a dialogue with the new president or offering to work with him in common pursuits.

The same can't be said of conservative Catholics who are lobbying Notre Dame University, the best-known Catholic institution of higher learning in the country, to rescind an invitation to Obama to speak at its commencement in May and accept an honorary degree. Led by the Cardinal Newman Society, a self-appointed guardian of orthodoxy, the protesters seem to believe they are more Catholic than the pope.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-notredame1-2009apr01,0,4893557.story

[ihavenobias]

37. Thanks for the link. n/t

[TahitiNut]

17. Well, he sure has the Holy Sacrament of Hypocritical Hubris down pat.

:puke:

[20score]

20. Frankly, Newt's a prick... frankly. K&R

[Occam Bandage]

26. So, he'll be going back to the first one, I take it. nt

[old mark]

27. Mr.Gingrich is a hateful lying piece of sociopathic shit. I bet

he will run for President in '12.

mark

[ihavenobias]

28. How could he not now that you've given him such a great slogan?

;)

[old mark]

35. Hell, he meets or exceeds all the GOP qualifications right there!

he needs someone really stupid to balance the ticket, though.
Let's see.....

mark

[ihavenobias]

39. He's not as entertaining as Palin/Jindal/Bachmann though! n/t

[CherylK]

29. LOL!!!

Pro-Catholic values my ass!

:spray:

[libodem]

30. Do as I say not as I do

Yeah, thanks Larry Craig, Marc Foley, David Vitter, Ted Haggart, thanks for all the free advice. That's about the only thing you repressed, sex-starved, manics offer for free these days. Who are these hypocrites trying to April fool anyway? Themselves? Each other?

[ihavenobias]

44. That gang of hypocrites should start a talk show.

It'd be fun for at least one episode.

[Horse with no Name]

31. I bet he still eats fish on Fridays too.n/t

[Kool Kitty]

33. Probably.

I know for sure every other day he eats shit.

[Yavin4]

41. Dear Baby Jesus, Please Let Newt Be The Repub Nominee in 2012

Please. Pretty please.

[elleng]

42. Its pretty clear gingrich don't know sh*t about Catholic values!

.

[sofa king]

43. I'd say it's more likely the chick who's blowing him is Catholic.

The Grinch is a forward-looking fellow, always planning ahead to the next marriage. His Lewinsky has got to be pushing thirty by now, so I think he's converting not for her, but for his side-girl.

According to numerous accounts, Gingrich prefers to receive only oral sex from his mistress, preferably in a car. So if you happen to see ol' Newt parked and alone and looking pensive, do us all a favor, get out your phone camera, and start taking pictures and movies as you walk up to the window.

[ihavenobias]

50. Devastating. n/t

[JerseygirlCT]

45. You are so right

The hypocrisy is stunning. I love that headline, too!

[burning rain]

49. You see, Newt subscribes to conservoChristian theology...

in which Jesus worshipped the rich, had only contempt for the poor, and concocted "wedge issues" so as to dupe middle class and poor people into voting for plutocracy.

[pam4water]

51. If really want himt o be a good Catholic she had him go back to his first wife.

The one he divorced while she had cancer!

[terisan]

52. or his second.... the one he was married to while she was having an affair with him. Ah hypocrisy!

[Maru Kitteh]

54. Newt is going to run in 12. That's why he's gone and found the Pope.

After he looses in either the primaries or the election, it'll be back to BAU for Newtie.



Blarf.