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(7,712 posts) Tue Aug 21, 2012, 10:18 AM Aug 2012

Mitt Romney showing his Mormon faith

http://bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2012/08/20/mitt-romney-campaign-hoping-that-openness-about-mormon-faith-can-positive/1LI2JQwrUA0pruHV3XCkKO/story.html

Mitt Romney showing his Mormon faith
By Michael Kranish and Matt Viser | Globe Staff August 21, 2012

WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney tried to capture the essence of what his religion meant to him in a little-noticed 1995 commencement address at his prep school. His Mormon faith, Romney said, is “one of the most important treasures of my life.”

It is a treasure that Romney, as a political candidate, has kept mostly in a private place — until recently. Now there are signs his protectiveness is easing. On Sunday, in what was described as a first for his candidacy, he allowed a handful of reporters to witness his attendance at a Mormon church near his summer home in Wolfeboro, N.H.

Romney’s decision to open up his church visit to the press was the most notable in a series of recent efforts to reveal more about how his faith has shaped him and his policies, part of an attempt to humanize him as well as respond to lingering concerns among some voters about putting a Mormon in the White House. The campaign is expected to encourage more emphasis on Romney’s religion at next week’s Republican convention in Tampa. Mormon prayers are expected to be delivered, along with a focus on turning points in Romney’s life, including his role as the leader of the Mormon church in the Boston area from 1986 to 1994.

“I think it would be excellent for people to know about,” said Kenneth Hutchins, who succeeded Romney as the president of the Boston stake, a group of local congregations akin to a Catholic diocese. “It would be hard to know him as a religious person without understanding who or what people in leadership positions really were, their standards and life.”