Vatican blocks Mormon access to records:
In an effort to block posthumous rebaptisms by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Catholic dioceses throughout the world have been directed by the Vatican not to give information in parish registers to the Mormons’ Genealogical Society of Utah . . .
The letter is dated 10 days before Pope Benedict XVI’s April 15-20 U.S. visit, during which he presided over an ecumenical prayer service attended by two Mormon leaders. It marked the first time Mormons had participated in a papal prayer service.
Effectively, this may not be anything new, but it is curious why now and why the LDS Church is the focus of the directive.
Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald — vicar general of the Diocese of Salt Lake City — said he didn’t understand why the Latter-day Saints church was singled out in this latest Vatican policy regarding parish records.
“We have a policy not to give out baptismal records to anyone unless they are entitled to have them,” Msgr. Fitzgerald said of his diocese. “That isn’t just for the Church of the Latter-day Saints [sic]. That is for all groups.
[Via Mormonism News.]