Mormons and Jews to Meet Over Posthumous Baptisms

April 7, 2005

Source: Yahoo! News

Wire Service: AP

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=533&ncid=533&e=8&u=/ap/20050408/ap_on_re_us/baptizing_the_dead

On April 7, 2005 the Associated Press reported, "Jewish leaders claim Mormons continue to posthumously baptize Jews and Holocaust victims, and will confront church leaders with a decade of frustration over what they call broken promises... The Mormon church has long collected names from government documents and other records worldwide for posthumous baptisms. Church members stand in for the deceased non-Mormons, a ritual the church says is required for the dead to reach heaven. The church believes individuals' ability to choose a religion continues beyond the grave... A 1995 agreement signed by Jewish leaders and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called for an immediate halt to unwanted proxy baptisms. After evidence was found in the church's massive International Genealogical Index that the baptisms for many Jews — including Anne Frank — continued, the two faiths reaffirmed the agreement in 2002. Jewish leaders in New York have bitterly complained the baptisms never stopped."