Mormons warned against baptizing Holocaust victims

The LDS Church's governing First Presidency has issued an unequivocal
mandate to its members: do not submit names of Jewish Holocaust victims
or celebrities for proxy baptism. Doing so could cost Mormons access to
their church's genealogical data or even their good standing in the
faith.

"Without exception, church members must not submit for
proxy temple ordinances any names from unauthorized groups, such as
celebrities and Jewish Holocaust victims," Mormon President Thomas S.
Monson and his counselors wrote in a letter to all Mormon bishops, dated
February 29.

"If members do so, they may forfeit their New
FamilySearch privileges [access to the church's genealogical holdings].
Other corrective action may also be taken." The letter, which was to be
read over pulpits and posted on bulletin boards in every Mormon
congregation on March 4, reminds members that their "preeminent
obligation" is to their own ancestors, and any name submitted for proxy
rituals "should be related to the submitter."