General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Mormons posthumously baptized President Obama's mother as a Mormom [View all]Xipe Totec
(44,559 posts)Mormon Church spokeswoman Kim Farah said that the offering of baptism to our deceased ancestors is a sacred practice to us and it is counter to Church policy for a Church member to submit names for baptism for persons to whom they are not related. The Church is looking into the circumstances of how this happened and does not yet have all the facts. However, this is a serious matter and we are treating it as such.
According to doctrinal background from an LDS spokesman, well-meaning Church members sometimes bypass this instruction and submit the names of non-relatives for temple baptism. Others perhaps pranksters or careless persons have submitted the names of unrelated famous or infamous people, or even wholly fictitious names. These rare acts are contrary to Church policy and sometimes cause pain and embarrassment.