Vatican blocks Mormon access to records:
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 . . .
The letter is dated 10 days before Pope Benedict XVI’s April 15-20 U.S. visit, during which he presided over an ecumenical prayer service attended by two Mormon leaders. It marked the first time Mormons had participated in a papal prayer service.
Effectively, this may not be anything new, but it is curious why now and why the LDS Church is the focus of the directive.
Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald — vicar general of the Diocese of Salt Lake City — said he didn’t understand why the Latter-day Saints church was singled out in this latest Vatican policy regarding parish records.
“We have a policy not to give out baptismal records to anyone unless they are entitled to have them,” Msgr. Fitzgerald said of his diocese. “That isn’t just for the Church of the Latter-day Saints [sic]. That is for all groups.
[Via Mormonism News.]
Tags: catholicism, family history
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Too bad for all of our catholic ancestors … and it is surprising as the Church will typically help preserve those records, and there is no harm being done to the deceased people in any event.
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How unfortunate for all the genealogists in the world, most of whom are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Even though information on these individuals can be found in many other data bases, it is unfortunate that this specific information will not become part of the growing, interconnected, worldwide data bases that help people find their ancestors in their quest to understand more clearly who they are, and know more about their family history. If the Catholic Church believes itself as being Christ’s official representative instution on earth, what other people, as believers also in Christ, do with their family genealogy information should be of no concern to the Fathers of the Church, even if they don’t believe in the practice of “baptism for the dead” as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:29, a practice which apparently did not stop Paul from preaching his understanding of the Gospel of our Lord, and using this practice as an example of how important it is to make sure everyone hears Christ’s saving message.
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It is worth remembering that for some people who believe in an afterlife, having people they know (in the sense that they have an inherent connection to them) preached to, in a very real sense, *is* problematic to them. I don’t really agree with that, but i certainly understand why some people don’t see posthumous baptisms as harmless.
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I’m torn as I feel like Wyman (and David) but think David’s approach is best.
However, Wilfried Decoo makes several valuable points that help to focus LDS displeasure over this move.
As with Jewish outrage over baptisms for the dead, it is perplexing that Catholics are upset over baptisms they don’t even believe in. Especially with then-Cardinal Ratzinger issuing a proclamation in 2001 saying that LDS baptisms are ineffective.
Also, the LDS Church has been a huge supporter of Catholic charities in regions where it does not have much infrastructure to help on its own. The Church shouldn’t expect favors elsewhere but it shows that the Church has a way to go in building bridges with the Vatican.
While it is sad that the Catholic Church is unwilling to share its records to help genealogy work, it’s interesting to consider who “owns” the intellectual property of our ancestors. Will they ever become part of the public “eternal” domain?
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