Despite being an outsider to those of the Jewish faith, the Persian king Cyrus is called to a leading role by the Lord, this Sunday’s first reading reveals. Mitt Romney, a Mormon, is running to lead the Republican Party in the 2012 presidential race, and injecting a potentially explosive issue into the campaign last weekend, a prominent Texas pastor said Romney is “not a Christian” and called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a “cult” at a major conference of Christian conservatives.

Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress introduced Rick Perry as a "genuine follower of Jesus Christ” at the “Values Voter Summit” Friday in Washington, D.C. and made his comments about Romney’s faith later when questioned by reporters. In the past Jeffress has also criticized other faith traditions, including Catholicism, which last year he called “that cult-like pagan religion.”

The comments about Mormonism raised immediate suspicions that the attack might have been a way for surrogates or supporters of Perry, the Texas governor who has stumbled in recent weeks, to gain ground by raising religious concerns about Romney. The Perry campaign sought to put some distance between Perry and Jeffress, stating that the governor “does not believe Mormonism is a cult.”

When Romney addressed the same summit Saturday, he never uttered the word “Mormon.” He spoke of the nation’s “heritage of religious faith and tolerance” but not of his own faith. Romney did, however, feel compelled to amend his prepared remarks by denouncing religious bigotry and taking on those who introduce what he called “poisonous language” into the political arena.

The psalmist this Sunday encourages listeners to “worship the Lord” and to “give the Lord glory and honor.” When Romney sought the Republican nomination for president in 2008 and his faith became an issue, he assured people that he worshipped Jesus as Lord, but failed to persuade many evangelicals.

The Catholic Church does not refer to Mormonism as a cult, but in 2001 the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith responded in the affirmative to a query about whether Mormons entering the Catholic Church needed to be baptized again, stating that baptisms performed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are to be considered invalid by Catholics because the faith traditions are so distinct.

Sources: Articles by Whit Johnson for CBS News, Richard A. Oppel, Jr. and Erik Eckholm for the New York Times,
Philip Rucker for the Washington Post, Alonso Gaskill for the Neil A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
at Brigham Young University, and Religion News Service