With Mitt Romney now the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich is attacking President Barack Obama for looking to undermine the role of religion in the public square.

Gingrich, who converted to Catholicism in 2009 after growing up Lutheran and joining the Southern Baptist faith at the start of his academic career, slammed Obama in his remarks after finishing second in the Florida primary.

“Many of you may have noticed that the Obama administration has declared war on the Catholic Church and other religious institutions,” Gingrich told supporters in Orlando on Tuesday night. “I want you to know that, on the very first day, I will sign an executive order repealing every anti-religious act of the Obama administration as of that moment.”

Gingrich returned to the theme on Wednesday, attacking Obama for a policy mandated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that religious organizations provide insurance coverage for birth control under the federal health-care law that Obama signed. On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced a measure to repeal that part of the law.

While Gingrich slammed the mandate for hurting Christian churches in general, in a message to supporters sent out on Wednesday he repeated his contention that Obama is targeting the Catholic Church.

“Last week, the Obama administration finalized a radical new rule that uses the health care law to require all health insurance providers to cover abortion-inducing drugs and sterilization as well as contraception, all free of charge. The administration based the rule’s ‘religious exemption’ on a provision drafted by the ACLU, applying the rule even to religious organizations such as Catholic schools, hospitals, universities and charities that oppose such things as a matter of religious belief,” Gingrich wrote.

“The weak exemption the administration allowed applies only to religious organizations serving primarily people of the same religion. It is so narrow that Timothy Dolan, the Catholic archbishop of New York City and current head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote in the Wall Street Journal that ‘even Jesus and His disciples would not qualify for the exemption in that case, because they were committed to serve those of other faiths.’

“President Obama and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius know full well that they are ordering Catholic institutions to violate their Church’s teachings if they want to stay in business. They also know full well that they are explicitly running over the First Amendment protection of religious freedom that every American is supposed to enjoy as a birthright,” Gingrich continued.

“President Obama’s message to Catholics is clear: Catholics will not be able to build organizations according to their faith and the teachings of their Church as long as they refuse to accept President Obama’s radicalism. President Obama’s order is a violation of the First Amendment right to freedom of conscience and an unprecedented assault on Christianity.”

Gingrich insisted that “Catholics are uniformly opposed to the rule” and cited pundits and religious leaders who oppose the administration on this matter.

“In choosing the radical agendas of Planned Parenthood and the ACLU over the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious liberty; in dramatically undermining the numerous Catholic educational, health, and charitable institutions that provide so much good to so many Americans; and in implementing a rule no elected official has ever voted on, President Obama has chosen Saul Alinksy radicalism over the Constitution,” Gingrich wrote in closing. “It’s hard to see how many people of faith will long remain in a political party so hostile to their beliefs and their rights.”

While Gingrich has been active in highlighting his faith -- even producing a movie with his wife on Pope John Paul II -- he is not the only Catholic running for the Republican nomination. Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a devout Catholic who has said repeatedly that his faith shapes his political views, remains in the race.

While the Democrats have nominated Catholics numerous times for their national ticket -- Al Smith, John F. Kennedy, Ed Muskie, Sargent Shriver, Geraldine Ferraro, John Kerry and Joe Biden -- only one Catholic ever made the Republican ticket. That was New York Congressman William Miller, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, who was Barry Goldwater’s running mate in 1964.



Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.