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November 7, 2010, The Denver Post, Mormons agree to stop baptizing Jewish Holocaust victims, by Electa Draper,

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November 7, 2010, The Denver Post, Mormons agree to stop baptizing Jewish Holocaust victims, by Electa Draper, 

It's never too late for a soul to be Mormon.

Since 1840, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been encouraged to perform baptisms in temples for their deceased relatives.

However, the Mormon baptism of hundreds of thousands of Jewish Holocaust victims created a 15-year controversy for the Salt Lake City-based church. On Sept. 1, the church made an agreement with Jewish leaders, acknowledging that the practice had "unintentionally caused pain," with an LDS pledge to American Jewish leaders to stop the practice.

Yet church critics say it's easier said than done, and the Holocaust exception doesn't stop the secret proxy baptisms of people of all faiths without their closest family members' consent or knowledge.

Genealogical researcher and ex-Mormon Helen Radkey, who helped uncover the baptisms of Holocaust victims, said she doubts that the agreement, which promised more computer-system controls, will be the end of the problem.

"Members can still put in the name of non-relatives," Radkey said.

Church spokeswoman Kim Farah acknowledged: "The system will never be perfect, but we feel we have achieved balance and respect."

The LDS system is vast, reliant on complete obedience by members and apparently too unwieldy for officials to monitor, Radkey said, given the many strange submissions she has uncovered.

The pope and Mickey

Overzealous Mormons and some pranksters have caused the church considerable embarrassment by baptizing — often without their families' permission — the famous and the infamous, such as Pope John Paul II, serial killer Ted Bundy, cartoon character Mickey Mouse and very recently, "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin.

Radkey, a Salt Lake City resident, has long bedeviled church authorities by gaining access to its "members-only" computer system and reporting on some of the stranger personages baptized by proxy in LDS temples.

"Every famous person goes in the system eventually. The fictional characters like Mickey Mouse are just graffiti," she said.

Audrey Hepburn, Rita Hayworth, Ernest Hemingway, Adolph Hitler and Eva Braun are just a few of the names Radkey said she's found.

LDS church defenders have criticized Radkey's motives, which they say include a grudge against the church, but she has been credited by others, including Gary Mokotoff, past president of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, as a capable researcher and spiritual whistle-blower.

For entry into heaven

Despite the publicity, rebaptizing people who chose other faiths during their lifetimes is one of the Mormons' "most sacred expressions of faith," Elder T. Todd Christofferson, a member of the LDS Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said in a written statement.

The LDS church teaches that its sacrament of baptism is required for entry into the kingdom of heaven.

For those souls who lived before Joseph Smith founded the LDS church in 1830, and for those who lived after Smith but weren't baptized Mormon, the church provides temple baptism of the dead by proxy.

The church doesn't recognize other denominations' baptisms because it believes that, after Jesus Christ was crucified and the Apostles martyred, a time of darkness ensued until Prophet Joseph Smith restored true Christianity on earth.

The church holds that temple baptisms must eventually be performed for everyone who was not baptized into the faith in this life.

"We believe that families are eternal, and baptizing our ancestors means our families can be together forever. It's one of the biggest blessings we could ever give anyone," said Mormon Jen Frandsen.

Church authorities ask the 13.5 million members around the world, and 137,000 in Colorado, to voluntarily comply with the policy that they stick to their own family members, however distantly related, rather than perform the ceremony for celebrities and historical figures.

Before performing baptisms for a dead family member born within the last 95 years, members are instructed to get permission from the person's closest living relative, church policy states. Many do not. 

"Church members are getting a mixed message," Radkey said. "They're told: 'Here are the rules.' But, on the other hand, 'Every soul must be offered salvation.' "

The only exception

In the case of Jewish Holocaust victims, Mormons cannot perform temple baptisms unless the church member is an immediate family member or has the permission of all living immediate family members (or the closest living relative if there is no one else).

The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants expressed gratitude.

"Out of all the humans who ever lived, the church has carved out Jewish Holocaust victims as the only exception to a universal doctrine," former New York state attorney Bob Abrams told The Jewish Week. Abrams called the special consideration "an enormous concession."

The church has removed a few hundred thousand names of Jewish Holocaust victims from its International Genealogical Index

"Because of the enormity of the Holocaust in human memory, the church will continue to address the issue of improper submission of Holocaust names when it arises. However, the church cannot accept restrictions on its doctrines or freedoms imposed by another group," says a church statement recently given to The Post by LDS headquarters.

The church holds there is nothing coercive about its offering of baptism.

"A departed soul in the afterlife is completely free to accept or reject such baptism," according to LDS church statements. "The church has never claimed the power to force deceased persons to become church members."

Electa Draper: 303-954-1276 oredraper@denverpost.com
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