In book, Marco Rubio writes of his Mormonism and return to Catholicism

Details, from the Salt Lake Tribune:

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio credits his short-lived time as a Mormon for providing a moral compass in his youth, though he also discloses for the first time his family’s struggles with the constraints of the faith and his eventual return to the Catholic fold.

In his new autobiography, An American Son, available Tuesday, the Florida Republican candidly discusses the three years he spent as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and lauds the Utah-based faith for helping his Cuban-immigrant mother and him when they moved from Miami to Las Vegas when he was a grade-schooler.

“All in all, the Mormon church provided the sound moral structure my mother had wanted for us, and a circle of friends from stable, God-fearing families,” Rubio writes in his book. “When we left the church a few years later, mostly at my instigation, we did so with gratitude for its considerable contribution to our happiness in those years.”

Rubio — a potential running mate to presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney, a Mormon — talks for the first time in his memoir about converting to the faith, a family trip to Provo and Salt Lake City to visit temple sites and how seriously he took his new religion.

“In contrast to my parents, I immersed myself in LDS theology, and understood it as well as an 8-year-old mind can,” Rubio writes.

“Although my school grades were never impressive, I was a voracious reader, and I studied church literature and other sources of information to learn all I could about the church’s teachings.”…

…Eventually, a friend from Rubio’s grade school who was Catholic piqued the future senator’s interest, and he began learning about the faith his mother grew up in. He said leaving the Mormon religion was his decision.

“We left the Mormon church with nothing but admiration for the place that had been our first spiritual home in Las Vegas and had been so generous to us,” Rubio writes. “I still feel that way.”

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Meantime, there are additional details at the ABC News website:

In the book, Rubio devotes an entire chapter to his return to Catholicism, and not unlike a portion of President Barack Obama’s political memoir The Audacity of Hope, describes the tenets that drive his faith. Bible verses are strewn throughout Rubio’s book, and he describes pivotal instances in his career when he says spiritual guidance helped him gain personal inspiration and strength to carry on.

While campaigning for Senate against former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and former Rep. Kendrick Meek in 2010, Rubio carried with him a key chain bearing Joshua 1:9 from the Old Testament, which reads in part, “the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

All of this is part of a common theme that carries on to the final line.

“And last but most important,” Rubio begins the final sentence of acknowledgements to friends and family, “I thank my Lord, Jesus Christ, whose willingness to suffer and die for my sins will allow me to enjoy eternal life.”