Mormons Abusing Memory of Deceased Russians — Religious Council
MosNews
The Russian Inter-Religious Council has described as “deliberate abuse” the Mormon practice of enrolling deceased people in their organization. Russia is also subject to the practice, and it’s a pity there is no law to stop Mormons from doing it, Roman Silantyev, spokesman for the Council, told Interfax Tuesday.
“Followers of the U.S. Mormon sect have for several decades been known to collect information about the deceased of all confessions and then convert them to Mormonism by means of a magic ritual they call baptizing,” he said.
“All the traditional religions reject the practice and see it as a deliberate abuse of the memory of the deceased,” he added.
Last week the media reported that U.S. Mormons also “converted” the victims of the Holocaust, whose names they found published in the Holocaust Memory Book. The sources also said “convertions” took place in Russia, too.
“In Russia Mormons usually buy birth registers from local archives,” Silantiev said. “Local archives cooperate willingly because of financial strains,” he added.
The spokesman for the Russian Inter-Religious Council expressed concern that the there was no legislation to prohibit the Mormon practice. He called on people working with archives to be attentive and not to “sell dead souls” to “visiting swindlers”, Interfax reports.
