Mormon leaders in the United States are attempting to block access to records of Holocaust victims in their genealogical database which the church agreed not to posthumously baptize. The move comes amid criticism that the Salt Lake City-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has not done enough to live up to commitments to stop its members from performing the baptism ritual on Holocaust victims. According to AP, the new system will now block church members' access if they try to seek out names of Holocaust victims or other notable figures that have been flagged as not suitable for proxy baptisms. The church said the move was aimed at ending the practice.
However, critics say it merely serves to block anyone from monitoring whether the posthumous baptisms continue. "By not allowing public access to the records, it creates the illusion they have something to hide," said Jewish genealogist Gary Mokotoff, who was involved in negotiations with the church over ending the practice for the past two decades, was quoted by the ‘Associated Press’ as saying.
Mormons believe the baptism ritual allows deceased people a way to the afterlife — if they choose to accept it. However, the practice is offensive to members of other religions who have expressed outrage at attempts to alter the religion of Holocaust victims because they were killed based on their belief. In the 1990s, after negotiations with Jewish leaders, the church agreed to end to the practice, but revelations by ex-Mormon researcher Helen Radkey have shown it has continued.
In recent weeks, Radkey revealed that Mormon temples had posthumously baptized the family of Holocaust survivor and Jewish rights advocate Simon Wiesenthal, of Anne Frank, a Jewish teenager forced into hiding in Amsterdam during the Holocaust and killed in a concentration camp, and of the late ‘Wall Street Journal’ reporter Daniel Pearl who was murdered while on assignment in Pakistan and was Jewish.
Mormon leaders, in a letter to temples worldwide, asked that members be reminded of the policy during Sunday services this past weekend. “Without exception, church members must not submit for proxy temple ordinances any names from unauthorized groups, such as celebrities and Jewish Holocaust victims,” LDS President Thomas S. Monson and his counselors wrote in a letter to all Mormon bishops, adding: “If members do so, they may forfeit their New FamilySearch privileges [access to the church’s genealogical holdings]. Other corrective action may also be taken.” The letter, which was read over pulpits and posted on bulletin boards in every Mormon congregation last Sunday, reminded members that their “pre-eminent obligation” was to their own ancestors, and any name submitted for proxy rituals “should be related to the submitter.”
"The church is committed to preventing the misguided practice of submitting the names of Holocaust victims and prominent individuals for proxy baptism," church spokesman Michael Purdy said this week. "In addition to reiterating its policy to members, the church has implemented a new technological barrier to prevent abuse."
