After it was reported that a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had performed a proxy baptism upon the parents of one Holocaust icon, Simon Wiesenthal, it was revealed by apostate ex-Mormon Helen Radkey that a Church member had submitted the names of the father and grandfather of another Holocaust icon, Elie Wiesel, into the genealogical database in preparation for proxy baptism. KSTU Channel 13 reports that the name of a third Wiesel relative, not identified by the media, was also submitted. No proxy baptisms were actually performed upon these people, though.
Predictably, Wiesel was distressed, not only criticizing the Church for the practice, but also calling upon LDS presidential candidate Mitt Romney to condemn the practice as well. The Washington Post quoted Wiesel as saying, in part, “I think it’s scandalous. Not only objectionable, it’s scandalous...I wonder if as a candidate for the presidency Mitt Romney is aware of what his church is doing. I hope that if he hears about this that he will speak up.”
So far, there's been no recorded response by Mitt Romney, although according to HuffPo, an email accidentally sent to the HuffPo reporter indicated that Romney campaign spokeswoman Gail Gitcho suggested that the campaign ignore the issue. However, the LDS Church, which originally apologized for the proxy baptism of Wiesenthal, issued a more expanded statement on February 14th:
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that they may be baptized by proxy for deceased ancestors who never had that opportunity.
The policy of the Church is that members can request these baptisms only for their own ancestors. Proxy baptisms of Holocaust victims are strictly prohibited.
In this case, the Wiesel family names were not submitted for baptisms but simply entered into a genealogical database. Our system would have rejected those names had they been submitted.
In a few instances, names have been submitted in violation of policy. Whether this is done by simple error or for other reasons, the Church considers these submissions to be a serious breach of protocol.
It is distressing when an individual willfully violates the Church’s policy and something that should be understood to be an offering based on love and respect becomes a source of contention. The Church will continue to do all it can to prevent such instances, including denying access to these genealogical records or other privileges to those who abuse them in this way.
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