Holocaust survivors halt talks with LDS
Church surprised at 'unilateral' end to baptism negotiations
The rift follows a Nov. 3 meeting in New York between leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and members of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants. Three days later, LDS Church officials sent a letter to American Gathering honorary chairman Ernest Michel praising the "atmosphere of trust, honesty, and candor" of that meeting, and noting that, "What remains is to develop a mechanism to facilitate that mutual understanding by monitoring progress."
Elder Lance B. Wickman of the Quorums of the Seventy said Monday the church was surprised and disappointed by Michel's "unilateral" ending of negotiations, stating that the church has "acted in good faith" throughout 14 years of conversations with Holocaust survivors.
The survivors have complained that the church's practice of offering church membership to the deceased has allowed members to forward the names of Jews killed in Nazi concentration camps for baptism by proxy, a practice that Michel believes alters their Jewishness.
The LDS Church's letter to Michel said the church is "pained by the perception" that the LDS Church is acting disrespectfully toward Holocaust victims and their families.
"We believe there is no faith group outside of Judaism itself that nurtures a deeper or more cordial feeling toward the people of Judah ... than we do," the letter said.
"It greatly distorts the true intent of our doctrines and religious practices when it is said that our temple work changes the 'Jewishness' of a person or that it somehow affects his ethnicity or visits upon him something that detracts from the significance of his life or the way he died. Once again we reaffirm to you that our temple and family history work does none of these things," the letter, signed by Elder Marlin K. Jensen and Elder Wickman, also said.
Recent comments
It's not hard to believe why jews asked LDS to halt these...
Marcelo Carioca | Oct. 30, 2009 at 3:23 p.m.
How does anyone know what anyone that has passed away wants? That's...
Anonymous | Nov. 15, 2008 at 11:17 a.m.
I have to laugh. On these boards on Church topics, there are always...
SS | Nov. 13, 2008 at 1:57 p.m.
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