I cannot find the entire Vatican directive on the internet; perhaps someone has found it. This is the original story that appeared in Catholic News Service: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0802443.htm Excerpt: "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." http://catholicism.about.com/b/2008/05/06/baptism-of-the-dead-its-not-for-catholics-anymore.htm Excerpt: "The About.com Guide to Genealogy, Kimberly Powell, has news of a very important directive issued by the Vatican Congregation for the Clergy on April 5, 2008. As the Catholic News Service reported, the Congregation for the Clergy has directed all Catholic dioceses "not to give information in parish registers to the Mormons' Genealogical Society of Utah." The reason is that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormons, engage in a practice of baptizing the dead. Any Mormon in good standing may stand in as a proxy for a dead relative, engaging in baptism on his or her behalf. Mormons believe that such posthumous baptisms allow those who did not have the opportunity to be exposed to the Mormon gospel while alive to accept or reject that gospel." History of the re-baptism issue: http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/ldsagree.html Excerpt: May 8, 2008 Reuters Blogs Catholic-Mormon tension over LDS baptism of the dead (excerpts) Posted by: Tom Heneghan The issue of Mormon proxy baptisms has resurfaced with the news that the Vatican has written to Catholic dioceses around the world telling them not to provide parish records to the Genealogical Society of Utah. As the Catholic News Service reported last week, the letter calls proxy baptism using these records “detrimental” and says the Vatican did not want Catholic parishes “to cooperate with the erroneous practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”. Mormons use genealogical data to find names of people to baptise posthumously, a practice the Roman Catholic Church rejects on theological grounds. This is not just an issue for Catholics, Jews asked similar questions in the 1990s, after finding Holocaust victims on the IGI. After strong Jewish protests, the Church agreed in 1995 to stop proxy baptising them, a step that seemed to indicate some recognition of a problem. However, names of Jews have continued to appear over the years, including that of Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal in 2006. According to Helen Radkey, a researcher who specialises on the IGI, “In 2008, the Church is still posthumously baptising Jewish Holocaust victims, against the terms of the agreement it signed with Jewish groups on May 3, 1995.” Mary Speculation is often an obstacle to fact finding Elyssa Kowalinski wrote: > I was thinking about this issue the other day, and it occurred to me that maybe the Roman Catholic Church sees genealogy researchers as stickybeaks, that we are looking through our ancestry for gossip and scandal when we should really be minding our own business... > > Elyssa > > >

I spoke with the crew at my local Family History Center and they told me that the story of the directive to stop microfilming is "bogus" -- the words of the staff at the local FHC library. They told me they checked with Salt Lake City and they they were told the church has not stopped microfilming in Roman Catholic Churches, especially in Eastern Europe. Allegedly the folks in Salt Lake City have yet to receive an actual letter from the Vatican telling them to cease any further microfilming. The staff at my local Family History Center told me the Mormon microfilming teams do not announce when they are arriving into a village - they only publicize their work AFTER the microfilming is completed. This is to fly under the radar from those who oppose their mission to microfilm church records. I apologize for sharing third-hand information, but perhaps someone from the Church of Latter Day Saints can provide more official information about the situation. -- Alan On Jul 10, 2008, at 10:15 AM, Mary Snow wrote: > I cannot find the entire Vatican directive on the internet; perhaps > someone has found it. This is the original story that appeared in > Catholic News Service: > > http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0802443.htm > > Excerpt: > "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." > > http://catholicism.about.com/b/2008/05/06/baptism-of-the-dead-its-not-for-catholics-anymore.htm > Excerpt: > "The About.com Guide to Genealogy, Kimberly Powell, has news of a very > important directive issued by the Vatican Congregation for the > Clergy on > April 5, 2008. As the Catholic News Service reported, the Congregation > for the Clergy has directed all Catholic dioceses "not to give > information in parish registers to the Mormons' Genealogical Society > of > Utah." > > The reason is that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, > commonly known as the Mormons, engage in a practice of baptizing the > dead. Any Mormon in good standing may stand in as a proxy for a dead > relative, engaging in baptism on his or her behalf. Mormons believe > that > such posthumous baptisms allow those who did not have the > opportunity to > be exposed to the Mormon gospel while alive to accept or reject that > gospel." > > History of the re-baptism issue: > http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/ldsagree.html > Excerpt: > > May 8, 2008 > Reuters Blogs > Catholic-Mormon tension over LDS baptism of the dead (excerpts) > Posted by: Tom Heneghan > > The issue of Mormon proxy baptisms has resurfaced with the news that > the > Vatican has written to Catholic dioceses around the world telling them > not to provide parish records to the Genealogical Society of Utah. As > the Catholic News Service reported last week, the letter calls proxy > baptism using these records “detrimental” and says the Vatican did not > want Catholic parishes “to cooperate with the erroneous practices of > the > Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”. Mormons use genealogical > data to find names of people to baptise posthumously, a practice the > Roman Catholic Church rejects on theological grounds. > > This is not just an issue for Catholics, Jews asked similar > questions in > the 1990s, after finding Holocaust victims on the IGI. After strong > Jewish protests, the Church agreed in 1995 to stop proxy baptising > them, > a step that seemed to indicate some recognition of a problem. However, > names of Jews have continued to appear over the years, including > that of > Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal in 2006. According to Helen Radkey, a > researcher who specialises on the IGI, “In 2008, the Church is still > posthumously baptising Jewish Holocaust victims, against the terms of > the agreement it signed with Jewish groups on May 3, 1995.” > > Mary > Speculation is often an obstacle to fact finding > > Elyssa Kowalinski wrote: >> I was thinking about this issue the other day, and it occurred to >> me that maybe the Roman Catholic Church sees genealogy researchers >> as stickybeaks, that we are looking through our ancestry for gossip >> and scandal when we should really be minding our own business... >> >> Elyssa >> >> >> > ********************************* > Need to contact the list manager? Write to Marie at Poland-Roots-admin@rootsweb.com > ---------------------------------- > Discussion of Polish food, culture, and customs are welcome on the > list as long as the discussion stays pertinent to the topic of this > list: researching our Polish roots. > ---------------------------------- > Browse the list's archives here: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=poland-roots > Search the list's archives here: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?aop=1 > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to POLAND-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message

It will be up to each bishop or parish priest to refuse permission for copying of records by the LDS. The LDS in Salt Lake City will never receive a letter and has issued a "no comment" when asked about the directive to conferences of bishops. It is up to the conferences of bishops to notify their bishops who would then notify their parish priests of the directive. So, if the priest has not yet received the directive from his bishop, or the bishop has not received the directive from his conference of bishops, he may indeed allow the microfilming. Mary Alan J. Kania wrote: > I spoke with the crew at my local Family History Center and they told > me that the story of the directive to stop microfilming is "bogus" -- > the words of the staff at the local FHC library. They told me they > checked with Salt Lake City and they they were told the church has not > stopped microfilming in Roman Catholic Churches, especially in Eastern > Europe. Allegedly the folks in Salt Lake City have yet to receive an > actual letter from the Vatican telling them to cease any further > microfilming. > > The staff at my local Family History Center told me the Mormon > microfilming teams do not announce when they are arriving into a > village - they only publicize their work AFTER the microfilming is > completed. This is to fly under the radar from those who oppose their > mission to microfilm church records. > > I apologize for sharing third-hand information, but perhaps someone > from the Church of Latter Day Saints can provide more official > information about the situation. > > -- Alan > > > On Jul 10, 2008, at 10:15 AM, Mary Snow wrote: > > >> I cannot find the entire Vatican directive on the internet; perhaps >> someone has found it. This is the original story that appeared in >> Catholic News Service: >> >> http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0802443.htm >> >> Excerpt: >> "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." >> >> http://catholicism.about.com/b/2008/05/06/baptism-of-the-dead-its-not-for-catholics-anymore.htm >> Excerpt: >> "The About.com Guide to Genealogy, Kimberly Powell, has news of a very >> important directive issued by the Vatican Congregation for the >> Clergy on >> April 5, 2008. As the Catholic News Service reported, the Congregation >> for the Clergy has directed all Catholic dioceses "not to give >> information in parish registers to the Mormons' Genealogical Society >> of >> Utah." >> >> The reason is that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, >> commonly known as the Mormons, engage in a practice of baptizing the >> dead. Any Mormon in good standing may stand in as a proxy for a dead >> relative, engaging in baptism on his or her behalf. Mormons believe >> that >> such posthumous baptisms allow those who did not have the >> opportunity to >> be exposed to the Mormon gospel while alive to accept or reject that >> gospel." >> >> History of the re-baptism issue: >> http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/ldsagree.html >> Excerpt: >> >> May 8, 2008 >> Reuters Blogs >> Catholic-Mormon tension over LDS baptism of the dead (excerpts) >> Posted by: Tom Heneghan >> >> The issue of Mormon proxy baptisms has resurfaced with the news that >> the >> Vatican has written to Catholic dioceses around the world telling them >> not to provide parish records to the Genealogical Society of Utah. As >> the Catholic News Service reported last week, the letter calls proxy >> baptism using these records “detrimental” and says the Vatican did not >> want Catholic parishes “to cooperate with the erroneous practices of >> the >> Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”. Mormons use genealogical >> data to find names of people to baptise posthumously, a practice the >> Roman Catholic Church rejects on theological grounds. >> >> This is not just an issue for Catholics, Jews asked similar >> questions in >> the 1990s, after finding Holocaust victims on the IGI. After strong >> Jewish protests, the Church agreed in 1995 to stop proxy baptising >> them, >> a step that seemed to indicate some recognition of a problem. However, >> names of Jews have continued to appear over the years, including >> that of >> Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal in 2006. According to Helen Radkey, a >> researcher who specialises on the IGI, “In 2008, the Church is still >> posthumously baptising Jewish Holocaust victims, against the terms of >> the agreement it signed with Jewish groups on May 3, 1995.” >> >> Mary >> Speculation is often an obstacle to fact finding >> >> Elyssa Kowalinski wrote: >> >>> I was thinking about this issue the other day, and it occurred to >>> me that maybe the Roman Catholic Church sees genealogy researchers >>> as stickybeaks, that we are looking through our ancestry for gossip >>> and scandal when we should really be minding our own business... >>> >>> Elyssa >>> >>> >

"Stickybeaks" . . . interesting term. I've never heard it! Do you know anything of its origin? Sandy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mary Snow" <marysnow@bellsouth.net> To: <poland-roots@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2008 12:15 PM Subject: Re: [POLAND] Church records vs. family historians (revisited) I cannot find the entire Vatican directive on the internet; perhaps someone has found it. This is the original story that appeared in Catholic News Service: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0802443.htm Excerpt: "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." http://catholicism.about.com/b/2008/05/06/baptism-of-the-dead-its-not-for-catholics-anymore.htm Excerpt: "The About.com Guide to Genealogy, Kimberly Powell, has news of a very important directive issued by the Vatican Congregation for the Clergy on April 5, 2008. As the Catholic News Service reported, the Congregation for the Clergy has directed all Catholic dioceses "not to give information in parish registers to the Mormons' Genealogical Society of Utah." The reason is that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormons, engage in a practice of baptizing the dead. Any Mormon in good standing may stand in as a proxy for a dead relative, engaging in baptism on his or her behalf. Mormons believe that such posthumous baptisms allow those who did not have the opportunity to be exposed to the Mormon gospel while alive to accept or reject that gospel." History of the re-baptism issue: http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/ldsagree.html Excerpt: May 8, 2008 Reuters Blogs Catholic-Mormon tension over LDS baptism of the dead (excerpts) Posted by: Tom Heneghan The issue of Mormon proxy baptisms has resurfaced with the news that the Vatican has written to Catholic dioceses around the world telling them not to provide parish records to the Genealogical Society of Utah. As the Catholic News Service reported last week, the letter calls proxy baptism using these records “detrimental” and says the Vatican did not want Catholic parishes “to cooperate with the erroneous practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”. Mormons use genealogical data to find names of people to baptise posthumously, a practice the Roman Catholic Church rejects on theological grounds. This is not just an issue for Catholics, Jews asked similar questions in the 1990s, after finding Holocaust victims on the IGI. After strong Jewish protests, the Church agreed in 1995 to stop proxy baptising them, a step that seemed to indicate some recognition of a problem. However, names of Jews have continued to appear over the years, including that of Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal in 2006. According to Helen Radkey, a researcher who specialises on the IGI, “In 2008, the Church is still posthumously baptising Jewish Holocaust victims, against the terms of the agreement it signed with Jewish groups on May 3, 1995.” Mary Speculation is often an obstacle to fact finding Elyssa Kowalinski wrote: > I was thinking about this issue the other day, and it occurred to me that > maybe the Roman Catholic Church sees genealogy researchers as stickybeaks, > that we are looking through our ancestry for gossip and scandal when we > should really be minding our own business... > > Elyssa > > > ********************************* Need to contact the list manager? Write to Marie at Poland-Roots-admin@rootsweb.com ---------------------------------- Discussion of Polish food, culture, and customs are welcome on the list as long as the discussion stays pertinent to the topic of this list: researching our Polish roots. ---------------------------------- Browse the list's archives here: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=poland-roots Search the list's archives here: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?aop=1 ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to POLAND-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message