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Mormon Church To Stop Baptizing For Dead Holocaust Victims
The Mormon Church has promised Jewish groups that its members will stop baptizing victims of the Holocaust, as well as most all Jews, posthumously.
The agreement was reached Friday between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and five major Jewish groups. A formal signing of the agreement is planned Wednesday in New York City.
The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors had asked the Mormons to stop the practice. The church's ruling First Presidency had issued a similar directive to members in March 1991, but on Friday acknowledged there were violations of the ban.
Baptism for the dead is a central tenet of the Mormon Church, which believes that the practice gives post-mortal spirits the chance to accept or reject baptism in the "true Church of Jesus Christ."
Though church doctrine has held that members should baptize only their ancestors, members commonly baptize others. Among those who have had proxy baptisms are Holocaust victims, dozens of Catholic saints and Hollywood stars.
The church has been assailed for the practice.
Ernest W. Michel, chairman of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, said his group initiated the talks with the Mormon Church.
"I am a Holocaust survivor and I found my grandmother, uncles, aunts and friends had been baptized,quot; Michel said. quot;That, to me, I found totally unacceptable. I was incensed when I found out about it.quot;
He characterized the talks between the Holocaust survivors group and the Mormon Church as quot;positive and friendly.quot; His group is the umbrella group for Holocaust survivors in the United States, and has 100,000 members.
The director of the church's Family History Department can recall no other group being explicitly exempted from the baptismal mandate to members.
"This category of person, the Holocaust victim who was murdered for their religious beliefs or culture, we need to be a little more sensitive to that,quot; said Elder Monte J. Brough, executive director of the department and a member of the church's Presidency of the Seventy. The two Quorums of the Seventy administer church affairs worldwide.
Brough said that by investigating church records, his department found nine persons who had submitted lists of Holocaust victims for posthumous baptisms in recent years. Each has been interviewed and admonished, he said.
"They were all embarrassed and appalled that they were as insensitive as they were. They are good people who had no intention of insulting anyone,quot; Brough said.
He acknowledged that others besides living church members' ancestors have been baptized.
"Frankly we just get busy doing other things and we've allowed a little slack in this,quot; he said. quot;The Jewish survivors have reminded us we need to be a little more pure in our doctrine and our practice.quot;
Brough said the church's First Presidency made a second directive in January this year to remind members not to baptize for Holocaust victims posthumously.
As part of the agreement to be signed in New York, the church agreed to remove from the next issue of its International Genealogical Index the names of all known posthumously baptized Jewish Holocaust victims who are not direct ancestors of living church members.
A list of those names to be removed is to be provided to the survivors group, the United States Holocaust Memorial Council in Washington D.C., A Living Memorial to the Holocaust- Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City, the Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles and Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.
Those were the four major Jewish groups that joined the survivors group in the agreement.
The church also agreed to reaffirm its policy and issue a directive to all officials and members of the church to discontinue future baptisms of deceased Jews, except those who are ancestors of living church members or whose families give permission.
The Mormon Church will continue to make its family history records - the most extensive in the world - to the public regardless of religious or ethnic affiliation.
The greement is to be signed at the office of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
Source: AP News Salt Lake City, May 1995.
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