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Press Herald, ME
June 28 2004
Mormon microfilming project stirs protests
By BETTY JESPERSEN, Associated Press
FARMINGTON - Mormon missionaries Donald and Jeanette Christensen have
left their home in Preston, Idaho, to spend the next two years in
Maine putting fragile, aging probate documents onto microfilm. Since
April, the retired couple have spent about eight hours a day in the
Franklin County Courthouse, microfilming more than 6,400 documents
listing the estates and assets of people who died here between 1838
and 1915.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, through its
Genealogical Society of Utah, has long collected names from
government and church documents worldwide to preserve genealogical
records and to add them to its enormous database of names. In return,
host recordkeepers are given a copy of the microfilm.
Mormons place great emphasis on genealogical research so that living
members may undergo baptismal rites on behalf of deceased ancestors,
a practice known as posthumous or "vicarious" baptism.
But the practice has come under fire. In amassing names from town
halls, churches and government files, millions of names not connected
to church members have been collected - from Jewish Holocaust victims
to Catholic popes to 18th-century Russian Orthodox and Armenian
Christians. Millions of those have been baptized as Mormon.
"For them to come in and baptize deceased relatives without the
family's permission is very unbecoming, is un-American, is illegal
and could lead to a court case. I think it is invading territory that
is private, and unless they get permission from the family, it is
none of their business," said Rabbi Harry Sky of Temple Beth-El in
Portland.
"If my family had wanted to be baptized, they would have done it
centuries ago. They decided to remain Jewish, so don't do it to us
now," Sky said.
THE CHURCH
The genealogical society's 6 million names on digitized and
microfilmed copies of records from more than 100 countries are stored
in a climate-controlled vault beneath 700 feet of solid granite
outside the church's headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is
available on certain Web sites - for a fee - or can be seen at
computer banks at Family History Centers in Mormon churches.
"The primary purpose is to preserve vital records worldwide and make
it available to everyone," said church spokesman Paul Nauta. He says
published reports about the extent of the baptism-by-proxy practice
are overblown.
"Members of the church are encouraged to identify their ancestors as
part of our doctrine because we believe families are eternal and ties
and bonds exist beyond death," he said.
Nauta said if deceased who are not related to living Mormons have
been baptized, it was done unintentionally by a small number of
overzealous church members out of a caring expression of faith. He
said it was difficult to police all proxy baptisms but regardless, a
change of religion is not forced on anyone.
"If you believe in the doctrine of immortality, those individuals can
accept or reject it in the hereafter just as they would in this
life," he said.
1995 AGREEMENT
In 1995, the Mormon church came to an agreement with Jewish leaders
that it would stop posthumous baptisms of anyone known to be Jewish.
It also agreed to remove the names from the International
Genealogical Index of about 6 million names if they are presented to
church officials.
According to The New York Times, however, as late as April 2004,
Jewish names were still in the database. Independent researchers have
found lists of Jews killed in the Holocaust that had been extracted
from memorial books, Jewish notables including Anne Frank, Albert
Einstein, Theodore Herzl - the founder of Zionism - as well as Roman
Catholic popes and saints, and members of Armenian Christian and
Russian Orthodox parish churches in Europe.
The Catholic Church does not recognize the validity of Mormon
baptisms, but the problem is that it constitutes a denial of the
baptism that already has taken place, the Rev. Ronald Roberson,
associate director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and
Interreligious Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in
Washington, told the Associated Press in January.
But he understood that people "certainly have reason to be upset," he
said.
In Maine, many small county probate offices still have paper files of
the assets and estates of the deceased. According to the
Christensens, each has been contacted by a Mormon volunteer with the
offer of free microfilming. The church just completed Oxford County's
documents, and Kennebec County's were done several years ago, but
Somerset and Cumberland counties maintain their own microfilm
records, according to probate court officials.
In Cumberland County, the busiest probate office north of Boston with
2,000 cases a year, Probate Register Alfred E. Piombino said he had
been contacted by different Mormon couples three times in the past 15
months with requests to make duplicates of his originals. He told
them there would be a fee, as for any member of the public, and they
never came back.
"I did not think the taxpayers would be pleased if we allowed a
religious group to come in and make carte blanche duplicates of all
our microfilm records for their own purposes," he said.
Piombino said as a custodian of public records, he feels that if he
allowed one group to have free access, he would have to allow all
users the same privilege. Probate clients include abstract companies,
genealogical research companies, lawyers and private detectives as
well as individuals.
RECORDS PRESERVED
The Christensens have temporarily moved into an apartment in Wilton
while they work at the Franklin County courthouse until the task is
done. "So far, we have gone through 133,000 pieces of paper here and
are about one-third through," Jeanette Christensen said.
"We are going to every state and every place where there are people,"
said Donald Christensen.
Jeanette Christensen said she has been told not to discuss the
church's religious use of the names.
Franklin County Register of Probate Joyce Morton said the microfilm
offer means she can finally preserve her records, some so brittle
they are turning to dust.
"This is being done at no cost to the taxpayer. If we had to pay to
have it done, we would need a specialist and have a staff person tied
up with the project," she said.
Probate Judge Richard Morton said the records are public. "Anyone can
come in and use them for any lawful purpose. We are not providing
special access to anyone that we are not providing to anyone else.
And the service we are receiving in return is an extraordinary
savings to the county."
June 28 2004
Mormon microfilming project stirs protests
By BETTY JESPERSEN, Associated Press
FARMINGTON - Mormon missionaries Donald and Jeanette Christensen have
left their home in Preston, Idaho, to spend the next two years in
Maine putting fragile, aging probate documents onto microfilm. Since
April, the retired couple have spent about eight hours a day in the
Franklin County Courthouse, microfilming more than 6,400 documents
listing the estates and assets of people who died here between 1838
and 1915.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, through its
Genealogical Society of Utah, has long collected names from
government and church documents worldwide to preserve genealogical
records and to add them to its enormous database of names. In return,
host recordkeepers are given a copy of the microfilm.
Mormons place great emphasis on genealogical research so that living
members may undergo baptismal rites on behalf of deceased ancestors,
a practice known as posthumous or "vicarious" baptism.
But the practice has come under fire. In amassing names from town
halls, churches and government files, millions of names not connected
to church members have been collected - from Jewish Holocaust victims
to Catholic popes to 18th-century Russian Orthodox and Armenian
Christians. Millions of those have been baptized as Mormon.
"For them to come in and baptize deceased relatives without the
family's permission is very unbecoming, is un-American, is illegal
and could lead to a court case. I think it is invading territory that
is private, and unless they get permission from the family, it is
none of their business," said Rabbi Harry Sky of Temple Beth-El in
Portland.
"If my family had wanted to be baptized, they would have done it
centuries ago. They decided to remain Jewish, so don't do it to us
now," Sky said.
THE CHURCH
The genealogical society's 6 million names on digitized and
microfilmed copies of records from more than 100 countries are stored
in a climate-controlled vault beneath 700 feet of solid granite
outside the church's headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is
available on certain Web sites - for a fee - or can be seen at
computer banks at Family History Centers in Mormon churches.
"The primary purpose is to preserve vital records worldwide and make
it available to everyone," said church spokesman Paul Nauta. He says
published reports about the extent of the baptism-by-proxy practice
are overblown.
"Members of the church are encouraged to identify their ancestors as
part of our doctrine because we believe families are eternal and ties
and bonds exist beyond death," he said.
Nauta said if deceased who are not related to living Mormons have
been baptized, it was done unintentionally by a small number of
overzealous church members out of a caring expression of faith. He
said it was difficult to police all proxy baptisms but regardless, a
change of religion is not forced on anyone.
"If you believe in the doctrine of immortality, those individuals can
accept or reject it in the hereafter just as they would in this
life," he said.
1995 AGREEMENT
In 1995, the Mormon church came to an agreement with Jewish leaders
that it would stop posthumous baptisms of anyone known to be Jewish.
It also agreed to remove the names from the International
Genealogical Index of about 6 million names if they are presented to
church officials.
According to The New York Times, however, as late as April 2004,
Jewish names were still in the database. Independent researchers have
found lists of Jews killed in the Holocaust that had been extracted
from memorial books, Jewish notables including Anne Frank, Albert
Einstein, Theodore Herzl - the founder of Zionism - as well as Roman
Catholic popes and saints, and members of Armenian Christian and
Russian Orthodox parish churches in Europe.
The Catholic Church does not recognize the validity of Mormon
baptisms, but the problem is that it constitutes a denial of the
baptism that already has taken place, the Rev. Ronald Roberson,
associate director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and
Interreligious Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in
Washington, told the Associated Press in January.
But he understood that people "certainly have reason to be upset," he
said.
In Maine, many small county probate offices still have paper files of
the assets and estates of the deceased. According to the
Christensens, each has been contacted by a Mormon volunteer with the
offer of free microfilming. The church just completed Oxford County's
documents, and Kennebec County's were done several years ago, but
Somerset and Cumberland counties maintain their own microfilm
records, according to probate court officials.
In Cumberland County, the busiest probate office north of Boston with
2,000 cases a year, Probate Register Alfred E. Piombino said he had
been contacted by different Mormon couples three times in the past 15
months with requests to make duplicates of his originals. He told
them there would be a fee, as for any member of the public, and they
never came back.
"I did not think the taxpayers would be pleased if we allowed a
religious group to come in and make carte blanche duplicates of all
our microfilm records for their own purposes," he said.
Piombino said as a custodian of public records, he feels that if he
allowed one group to have free access, he would have to allow all
users the same privilege. Probate clients include abstract companies,
genealogical research companies, lawyers and private detectives as
well as individuals.
RECORDS PRESERVED
The Christensens have temporarily moved into an apartment in Wilton
while they work at the Franklin County courthouse until the task is
done. "So far, we have gone through 133,000 pieces of paper here and
are about one-third through," Jeanette Christensen said.
"We are going to every state and every place where there are people,"
said Donald Christensen.
Jeanette Christensen said she has been told not to discuss the
church's religious use of the names.
Franklin County Register of Probate Joyce Morton said the microfilm
offer means she can finally preserve her records, some so brittle
they are turning to dust.
"This is being done at no cost to the taxpayer. If we had to pay to
have it done, we would need a specialist and have a staff person tied
up with the project," she said.
Probate Judge Richard Morton said the records are public. "Anyone can
come in and use them for any lawful purpose. We are not providing
special access to anyone that we are not providing to anyone else.
And the service we are receiving in return is an extraordinary
savings to the county."