No LDS Access to Catholic Records

Concern over Baptism for the Dead Caused the Vatican to Forbid it

May 6, 2008

The Vatican issued this statement over concern that the records might be used in baptizing former Catholics into the Mormon church after their death.

Baptism for the dead is one of the more controversial practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jewish groups have complained about Holocaust victims with no living relatives having undergone the posthumous rituals, and a Russian complained of the uses to which the Mormons might put Catholic parish membership registries

The controversial Mormon practice of baptism of the dead has grabbed headlines again because an order from the Vatican prohibits Catholic dioceses from sharing parish records with the Mormon church. Officials for the Roman Catholic Church called the Mormon practice “detrimental” and warned local priests not to cooperate with the erroneous practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to the Catholic News Service.

Baptism for the Dead

Mormon doctrine allows for the deceased ancestors of an individual to be baptized by proxy in the afterlife. According to statements from the late Gordon B. Hinckley and other members of the church, the deceased is free in the afterlife to accept the statements or not. The purpose of baptism for the dead is to give a soul a chance at a better afterlife than it might otherwise have had.

Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald stands by the decision and states that he does not want the records to be used for detrimental practices, according to the Deseret News. He also noted that many other members continue to use the parish records, but that Mormons will no longer be able to use the records when conducting genealogical research.

Baptism for the Dead Controversy Continues

The Church has been twice asked to stop baptizing dead Holocaust victims and has since increased its efforts to make sure that those who undergo baptism for the dead have ancestors who are currently practicing Mormons, but other faiths do not consider the Mormon baptisms for the dead to be valid. As one BBC journalist commented, many people feel it is wrong to baptize someone into the Mormon faith after he can no longer make the decision to become a Mormon by himself.

The Effects of the Vatican's Decision

The practice of baptism for the dead remains controversial, but it the decision of the Vatican not to let Mormons view the parish records for genealogical research may have more far reaching effects. Even though many people disagree with the practice of baptism for the dead by proxy, the practice does cause the Salt Lake-based Mormon church to maintain one of the largest genealogical libraries in the world. Many peple use Mormon resources when trying to track down their roots.

The comments left by readers of the Deseret News were less than positive, with a few posters calling the Catholics responsible for this decision “bigots.” Representatives of the Vatican are aware that the decision may strain relations between the two faiths, but insist that the reason is not to prevent people from tracing their roots, but rather to keep the records from being used for religious practices the Roman Catholics consider to be in error.

“Vatican Letter Directs Bishops to Keep Records from Mormons.” Chaz Muth. Catholic News Service. May 1, 2008

“Catholics Told Not to Give LDS Parish Data.” Geoffrey Fattah. Deseret News. May 4, 2008. Provo, Utah.

The copyright of the article No LDS Access to Catholic Records in Mormonism is owned by Shawn Landis. Permission to republish No LDS Access to Catholic Records in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

May 8, 2008 8:28 AM

Guest :

I certainly do not want any of my relatives rebaptized into the mormon cult!

May 9, 2008 5:42 PM

Guest :

The Mormons do this at great expense and great effort. They let everyone have access to their records. We should be grateful to them. If we don't believe the Mormon Church is true, what difference could it possibly make to our dead relatives. But the real question here is will the Catholic Church go to the effort and expense of copying these records or will they just let them turn into a pile of dust and ages of history will be lost?

May 13, 2008 6:03 PM

Guest :

Mormons need to keep their hands out of Catholic business. Free will is God-given, therefore, who are the Mormons to decide whether someone should be baptized after death without their obvious consent. Sounds like a desperate bid for new converts, even dead ones at that! This is hilarious!