Wiesel to Romney: Intervene on Baptisms

By JTA February 16, 2012

Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel said Mitt Romney should speak up about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ practice of posthumous baptisms.

In an interview with the Huffington Post, Wiesel said that Romney, the front-runner in the race for the Republican presidential nod, should tell his church to “stop” performing posthumous proxy baptisms of Holocaust victims.

“I wonder if as a candidate for the presidency Mitt Romney is aware of what his church is doing,” Wiesel told the Huffington Post. “I hope that if he hears about this that he will speak up.”

The Huffington Post reported Tuesday that some members of the church had submitted Wiesel’s name for proxy baptism, in addition to submitting the names of Wiesel’s deceased father and maternal grandfather. They apparently were withdrawn after the report.

The Mormon church since 1995 has said it has stopped the practice of extending such baptisms to Holocaust victims unless they are direct ancestors of Mormons. But a number of Jewish groups have tracked instances of such baptisms.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center blasted the church this week upon discovering that its namesake’s parents had been slated recently for baptism. The church apologized.

Wiesel has been publicly outspoken about this issue, noting that proxy baptisms have been performed on 650,000 Jews that were murdered during the Holocaust.

“I think it’s scandalous. Not only objectionable, it’s scandalous,” Wiesel told the news website.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO