In an effort to block posthumous rebaptisms by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Catholic dioceses throughout the world have been directed by the Vatican not to give information in parish registers to the Mormons’ Genealogical Society of Utah.
An April 5 letter from the Vatican Congregation for Clergy, obtained by Catholic News Service in late April, asks episcopal conferences to direct all bishops to keep the Latter-day Saints from microfilming and digitizing information contained in those registers.
The order came in light of “grave reservations” expressed in a Jan. 29 letter from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the clergy congregation’s letter said.
This priniciple is not new. Genealogical research in Italy has been hampered for years due to a ruling by Italian bishops that parishes are not to cooperate with the LDS concerning genealogical records.
I don’t see why the Vatican would worry about this, since this practice of re-baptizing people after they’re dead does not pass the test of a valid sacrament. Would they worry about the LDS church posthumously issuing passports from the planet Kolob in the names of these (actual) saints?
Rodney, I had the same reaction when I read about a Jewish group that was mad about the LDS “baptizing” dead family members…the LDS actually entered into an agreement with them to stop the practice. But if you don’t recognize the sacrament as efficacious, what difference does it make?
Because you’re concerned about the souls of the people who are doing it and the souls of those others who may be misled by permitting it to be done? Hence insofar as it is within your powers don’t participate?
Because the Mormons who do the re-baptizing claim those folks–tho’ dead–are now Mormons. It may not matter to the dead ones but it impresses the live non-Mormons.
I was told that George Washington finally became a Mormon. If I hadn’t known better, I might have been impressed!
Because, unlike TEO, the RCC takes seriously its responsibility to protect the spiritual health of its members.
A relative of mine collected huge amounts of genealogical data. Rather than throw all that labor away I sent it to Utah for microfilming. While I agree with what the Catholic church is doing since active “baptisms” are involved, I am sure the Mormon archives are of use to some who are merely interested in their roots.
As a genealogist and a Christian, this has always been a dilemma. You can’t avoid using LDS microfilms in your research. As a whole they’ve done a great service for family researchers. However, when you remember the reason they place such an emphasis on their family trees . . . well, it’s a little depressing thinking about people believing such lies. I used to believe that the RCC was right in not allowing the Mormons to copy their parish records. But now my reasoning leans more toward “an LDS baptism is not valid anyway, so what harm does it do?”
The LDS genealogical library in SLC contains extensive information on my (Baptist) New England Mayflower ancestors, and my (Mennonite) Pennsylvania German ancestors. According to the format in which the records were kept, all these of my forebears were “sanctified” and “staked” (whatever that means), sometime in the 1970s, two or three centuries after they died. Whatever the spiritual status of my ancestors was when they checked out from this mortal coil, I doubt that LDS ministrations affected that status in any substantial way.
As for the state of the souls of those LDS doing these post-mortem baptisms–their willingness to carry out these rituals is a symptom of their moral/spiritual infirmities, not the cause or substance of it. In other words, even if you try to inhibit them from baptizing the dead, they’ve got still got all the spiritual problems they started out with.
There are actually ywo things at play here. Rebaptism is only ancillary to the excellent genealogical research that the LDS does. Personally I don’t see this as threat to the spiritual health of anyone. I could baptize my cat and call it my grandfather, but it won’t remove his soul from heaven. I say no harm no foul-LDS, knock yourself out!
I won’t….Just won’t do it, wild horses CAN NOT make me. Put your own one-liner here about the Bishop of Utah….
[i]No, the elves request that you please DO NOT add your own one liner about the Bishop of Utah. That would be off-topic and we would be very miffed 🙂 Thanks![/i]
–elfgirl
It’s about money. There is a LOT of money involved in providing genealogical info. It is customary to send a few bucks to the church that sends you the info you request.
them, I am sure you can back up your assertion with that pesky little thing known as facts. If not go play with children who are as ignorant as you presume we are.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it’s “all about” money. I assume that the LDS belief in baptism of the dead is sincere (albeit sincerely wrong), and having extensive genealogical records assists in that undertaking. I will, however, stipulate that a charge is made for items that are obtained from the main LDS library and from the various local “Stake” “family history centers.” However, I have always found their work to be meticulously sources and researched, and whenever I have found an individual or group that fits in with my lineage, I have happily written the check for access to the information. To give an example of scale….to obtain a facsimile of a return of a marriage license, or a naturalization certificate, might cost $5 by mail, including the cost of postage. I certainly would agree that, in the aggregate, those $5 checks from “gentiles” like me could add up.
By the way, $5 is a lot less than it costs to get a record from a county clerk’s office. Those offices typically make genealogists pay for a certified copy of the record, such as you might need for a passport application or a life insurance claim, although genealogists rarely need or want certified copies. The cost of such records from public sources (maintained for the service and convenience of the public, I hear), is generally $12 to $15.