[Also posted to LDS-GENEALOGY] The following is from the 16 May 2008 issue of *The Catholic Witness*. The story was also covered by the *Deseret Morning News* on 04 May. I am flabbergasted... ----- *Bishops to Keep Records from Mormons* 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.

This is hilarious. This means the Vatican actually believes that the Mormon "rebaptisms" actually mean something to God. On Thu, May 29, 2008 at 5:23 PM, Ken Sigmund <cub2544@gmail.com> wrote: > [Also posted to LDS-GENEALOGY] > > The following is from the 16 May 2008 issue of *The Catholic Witness*. The > story was also covered by the *Deseret Morning News* on 04 May. > > I am flabbergasted... > ----- > > *Bishops to Keep Records from Mormons* > 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. > ********************************* > Need to contact the list manager? > GALICIA-admin@rootsweb.com > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > GALICIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >