Catholics restrict access to parish records for Mormons

[Gerald Tarrant]

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- 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.

Father James Massa, executive director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, said the step was taken to prevent the Latter-day Saints from using records -- such as baptismal documentation -- to posthumously baptize by proxy the ancestors of church members.

Posthumous baptisms by proxy have been a common practice for the Latter-day Saints -- commonly known as Mormons -- for more than a century, allowing the church's faithful to have their ancestors baptized into their faith so they may be united in the afterlife, said Mike Otterson, a spokesman in the church's Salt Lake City headquarters.

In a telephone interview with CNS May 1, Otterson said he wanted a chance to review the contents of the letter before commenting on how it will affect the Mormons' relationship with the Catholic Church.

"This dicastery is bringing this matter to the attention of the various conferences of bishops," the letter reads. "The congregation requests that the conference notifies each diocesan bishop in order to ensure that such a detrimental practice is not permitted in his territory, due to the confidentiality of the faithful and so as not to cooperate with the erroneous practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

The letter is dated 10 days before Pope Benedict XVI's April 15-20 U.S. visit, during which he presided over an ecumenical prayer service attended by two Mormon leaders. It marked the first time Mormons had participated in a papal prayer service.

Father Massa said he could see how the policy stated in the letter could strain relations between the Catholic Church and the Latter-day Saints.

"It certainly has that potential," he said. "But I would also say that the purpose of interreligious dialogue is not to only identify agreements, but also to understand our differences. As Catholics, we have to make very clear to them their practice of so-called rebaptism is unacceptable from the standpoint of Catholic truth."

The Catholic Church will eventually open a dialogue with the Mormons about the rebaptism issue, Father Massa said, "but we are at the beginning of the beginning of a new relationship with the LDS. The first step in any dialogue is to establish trust and to seek friendship."

The two faiths share intrinsic viewpoints on key issues the United States is facing, particularly the pro-life position on abortion and an opposition to same-sex marriage.

However, theological differences have cropped up between Mormons and Catholics in the past.

In 2001 the Vatican's doctrinal congregation issued a ruling that baptism conferred by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cannot be considered a valid Christian baptism, thus requiring converts from that religion to Catholicism to receive a Catholic baptism.

"We don't have an issue with the fact that the Catholic Church doesn't recognize our baptisms, because we don't recognize theirs," Otterson said. "It's a difference of belief."

When issuing its 2001 ruling, the Vatican said that even though the Mormon baptismal rite refers to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the church's beliefs about the identity of the three persons are so different from Catholic and mainline Christian belief that the rite cannot be regarded as a Christian baptism.

Latter-day Saints regard Jesus and the Holy Spirit as children of the Father and the Heavenly Mother. They believe that baptism was instituted by the Father, not Christ, and that it goes back to Adam and Eve.

Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald -- vicar general of the Diocese of Salt Lake City -- said he didn't understand why the Latter-day Saints church was singled out in this latest Vatican policy regarding parish records.

"We have a policy not to give out baptismal records to anyone unless they are entitled to have them," Msgr. Fitzgerald said of his diocese. "That isn't just for the Church of the Latter-day Saints. That is for all groups."

Though he said the Salt Lake City Diocese has enjoyed a long-standing dialogue with the Latter-day Saints, Msgr. Fitzgerald said the diocese does not support giving the Mormons names for the sake of rebaptism.

Mormons have been criticized by several other faiths -- perhaps most passionately by the Jews -- for the church's practice of posthumous baptism.

Members of the Latter-day Saints believe baptizing their ancestors by proxy gives the dead an opportunity to embrace the faith in the afterlife. The actual baptism-by-proxy ceremony occurs in a Mormon temple, and is intended to wash sins away for the commencement of church membership.

Jewish leaders have called the practice arrogant and said it is disrespectful to the dead, especially Holocaust victims.

"Baptism by proxy is a fundamentally important doctrine of the Latter-day Saints," Otterson said. "We have cooperative relationships with churches, governments -- both state and national -- going back to the last century. Our practice of negotiating for records and making them available for genealogical research is very well known."

Father Massa said he is not aware of aggressive attempts to obtain baptismal records at Catholic parishes in any of the U.S. dioceses.

He also said the Catholic Church will continue to reach out to the Mormons and carry on the efforts of understanding that have already begun, especially in Salt Lake City.

"Profound theological differences are not an excuse for avoiding dialogue, but a reason for pursuing dialogue," Father Massa said.

END

Just heard about this on NPR. It seems to be the natural outgrowth of the 2001 ruling on LDS baptisms, it also seems consistent with Pope Benedict's reputation as a hardliner. I wonder how long that decision has been in the works.

[Gerald Tarrant]

Ghetto Edit: forgot the link Here. If a passing Mod could add that to the OP, I'd appreciate it

[Kanastrous]

It's always fun to watch one set of crazies freak out over the crazy crap another group of crazies, is up to...

[Alerik the Fortunate]

I'm picturing some sort of weird guerilla warfare with mutual threats of rebaptism and disinformation in the form of distorted genealogical records so that remote baptisms "miss" their intended targets. And how are they going to enforce this? Background checks for church affiliation before allowing anyone to view birth records? This is a little more beyond absurd than usual for major churches.

[Patrick Degan]

So, is the Catholic Church afraid that the rebaptised disappear from Catholic Heaven and are instantly teleported to Mormon Heaven?

[Magus]

I don't get this at all...

If the Mormon baptism isn't recognized by the Catholic church, and the individual is obviously baptized against their will... why should the Church even care? If the Mormons are wrong, no harm done. If the Mormons are right, then the souls of the newly baptized are then saved. Sounds like a win-win to let them be baptized.

[FSTargetDrone]

I'm picturing some sort of weird guerilla warfare with mutual threats of rebaptism and disinformation in the form of distorted genealogical records so that remote baptisms "miss" their intended targets. And how are they going to enforce this? Background checks for church affiliation before allowing anyone to view birth records? This is a little more beyond absurd than usual for major churches.

Or how about "faked" records resulting in the baptism of individuals who do not exist?

[Straha]

I don't get this at all...

If the Mormon baptism isn't recognized by the Catholic church, and the individual is obviously baptized against their will... why should the Church even care? If the Mormons are wrong, no harm done. If the Mormons are right, then the souls of the newly baptized are then saved. Sounds like a win-win to let them be baptized.

It's a respect issue. It's the catholic church trying to protect their believers and their peace of mind. Imagine if someone came up to you and baptized you on the street. I'd be a bit pissed off myself.

[Superman]

In all fairness, no church recognizes "rebaptisms" except for ones who came up with it, the Mormons. All churches do silly goofball shit, but Mormons almost take it to a new level. These are the same tards who wear magical underwear.

[Lord of the Abyss]

So, is the Catholic Church afraid that the rebaptised disappear from Catholic Heaven and are instantly teleported to Mormon Heaven?

The Catholics I've talked to about this seem to feel it's more obnoxious than anything. Sort of as if an atheist like myself went to a graveyard and started writing "Atheist" on their dead relatives headstones, I guess.

[Kitsune]

It is much like a coworker telling that he will pray for me

Even if you disagree with the Catholic Church, this is a good thing. You want the two churches to be at odds with each other so that they are less able to push their agendas against gay marriage and birth control

[chitoryu12]

I don't get this at all...

If the Mormon baptism isn't recognized by the Catholic church, and the individual is obviously baptized against their will... why should the Church even care? If the Mormons are wrong, no harm done. If the Mormons are right, then the souls of the newly baptized are then saved. Sounds like a win-win to let them be baptized.

It's a respect issue. It's the catholic church trying to protect their believers and their peace of mind. Imagine if someone came up to you and baptized you on the street. I'd be a bit pissed off myself.

Why would a person in heaven actually notice, though? If someone goes up to you while you're walking down the sidewalk and tries to baptize you, you're sure as hell going to be irritated. If your soul is floating around the clouds, are you somehow going to feel the effects?

[Alyrium Denryle]

I look at it like this. The fucking mormons dont take no for an answer.

All their lives, catholics (or jews) have said "no" when mormons come to the door. But now, after they are dead and can no longer defend themselves or say no, the mormons baptize them into their faith by proxy.

That pisses me off, and I dont believe in souls, to the point that, if the mormon half of my family tries to do that after I am dead, my estate will be directed in my will to sue them

[Patrick Degan]

You'd think it was bad enough when Catholics (along with many others, of course) were merely being registered to vote after death.

[FSTargetDrone]

It's a respect issue. It's the catholic church trying to protect their believers and their peace of mind. Imagine if someone came up to you and baptized you on the street. I'd be a bit pissed off myself.

I'd be annoyed that some religionist accosted me on the street for any reason. If he attempted to baptize me I'd tell him to fuck off, but I wouldn't be bothered by his intent to perform Baptism itself as opposed to any other make-believe. As an atheist, I look at such a person as acting in a deranged manner, whether he comes up and declares I am now going to Mormon Heaven or that God is telling him I need to be saved.

How would a Mormon do this, anyhow? I was taught in Catholic school that any Catholic could perform an "emergency" baptism on a sick or dying person by simply stating, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" while splashing water three times on the person. I also recall being taught that if no water was available, the words alone were enough.

Also:

2. Who may administer the sacrament of Baptism?[/b

The bishop, priest or deacon is the usual minister of Baptism, but when a person is in danger of death anyone may and sometimes should baptize. No one, however, may baptize him or herself.

3. In an emergency, does the person who baptizes have to be a Catholic?

In an emergency, the person who baptizes can be anyone-man, woman or child, Catholic or non-Catholic, atheist or unbeliever-as long as he or she administers the sacrament properly and does it with the intention of "doing what the Church does."

4. How is emergency Baptism given?

Emergency Baptism is given by pouring ordinary water three times on the forehead of the person to be baptized, saying while pouring it: "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." The words must be said at the same time the water is poured.

5. Is Baptism that is administered by a lay person as valid as that administered by the priest?

Yes. When properly given, Baptism administered by a lay person is as valid as Baptism given by a priest.

...

7. What is baptismal water?

Baptismal water is water previously blessed for use in Baptism, but in case of emergency, any water may be used.

As an aside, I find it humorous that I can give an emergency baptism to any person other than myself.

[Metatwaddle]

All their lives, catholics (or jews) have said "no" when mormons come to the door. But now, after they are dead and can no longer defend themselves or say no, the mormons baptize them into their faith by proxy.

I'm not entirely sure why baptizing dead people who can't consent to it, like the Mormons, is worse than baptizing babies who can't consent to it, like the Catholics.

[Singular Intellect]

Personally, I'd love to encounter this sort and counter with a 'satan blessing' of some kind, and assert they now serve the dark master!