{"id":660,"date":"2008-05-06T14:35:33","date_gmt":"2008-05-06T14:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/2008\/05\/vatican-to-bishops-do-not-shar.php"},"modified":"2008-05-06T14:35:33","modified_gmt":"2008-05-06T14:35:33","slug":"vatican-to-bishops-do-not-shar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2008\/05\/vatican-to-bishops-do-not-shar","title":{"rendered":"Vatican to Bishops: Do Not Share Parish Information with Mormons"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Francis X. Rocca
\nReligion News Service<\/strong>
\nVatican City — Seeking to stop Mormons from posthumously baptizing Catholic ancestors, the Vatican has instructed bishops around the world not to share parish registers with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
\nThe Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy issued the directive in a letter to national bishops’ conferences in early April, according to Catholic News Service. The letter referred to “grave reservations” expressed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Catholic Church’s highest doctrinal body.
\nThe Rev. James Massa, an official of the U.S. bishops’ conference, told CNS that the Vatican had acted to prevent the use of church records for the “proxy baptisms” of deceased Catholics by Mormons, which the letter calls a “detrimental practice.”
\nLatter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormons, believe that by performing such baptisms they can offer their ancestors the chance to become Mormons after death.
\nMassa acknowledged that the Vatican’s action might complicate dialogue between the Catholics and Mormons, but said the “purpose of interreligious dialogue is not only to identify agreements, but also to identify differences.”
\nRelations between the two churches took a step forward in April, during Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the U.S., when Mormon representatives took part for the first time in a prayer service led by a pope.
\nAn LDS church spokesman declined to comment on the Vatican’s letter, saying that church officials had not yet seen the document.
\nCopyright 2008 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Francis X. Rocca Religion News Service Vatican City — Seeking to stop Mormons from posthumously baptizing Catholic ancestors, the Vatican has instructed bishops around the world not to share parish registers with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 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