DETROIT (CWNews.com) - Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush campaign in Michigan Monday, ahead of Tuesday's party primary, playing down charges that he offended Catholics by visiting a fundamentalist university in South Carolina.

    Bush spoke at Bob Jones University during the primary campaign in South Carolina, after which some reporters and other campaigns highlighted anti-Catholic comments made by the university's namesake in the past.

    Michigan Gov. John Engler, a Catholic, defended Bush and said Catholics in his state could confidently support the candidate. Bush added that his own brother, Jeb, the governor of Florida, converted to Catholicism several years ago, a decision for which he supported him. Catholics constitute a major voting bloc in Michigan, making up about 35 percent of those expected to vote in the GOP primary.