Catholic Abominable Church
This brings us to the point of the atonement of Jesus Christ. I speak it definitely: No Catholic priest from the pope down, understands the atonement of Jesus Christ! If they did, then this abominable doctrine of original sin would be abolished. So the atonement and its relationship to the human family is the next point which proves the apostasy of the Catholic Church. (Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 5 vols. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1957-1966], 3: 178.)
Choirs will unite in song
Dianna M. Náñez
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 9, 2006 12:00 AM
A relationship that began with a letter to Salt Lake City
has united a Catholic and a Mormon church in Gilbert in song, spirit and
mission.
A tradition symbolic of the relationship will play out onstage when members of
Gilbert St. Anne's Catholic Church Choir and Gilbert Stake Center Choir perform
together at the Mesa Arizona Temple Christmas Lights Display.
The choirs first joined in 1999 after Father Doug Lorig, who presided over St.
Anne's at the time, and President John Lewis, of the Gilbert Stake, brought the
churches together in a service project to help Guadalupe.
Lewis said the work completed in Guadalupe by more than 1,000 parishioners
sparked friendships and a desire for lasting unity.
Lewis considers Lorig, 70, a cherished friend, and is thankful his Gilbert
neighbor had the courage to reach out to a church and people he wanted to know
better.
Father Lorig's letter was sparked by a combination of his mid-1990s visit to
Glamoc, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the arrival of a White supremacist gang, known as
the "Devil Dogs," to Gilbert.
The letter led to a meeting between Lewis and Lorig. The churches have since
joined in numerous service projects.
Jan Gilyeat, Gilbert Stake choir director, said the rehearsal filled her with
joy.
"The singers' faces glow," Gilyeat said. "It's like they know the power of the
message they're sending."
Library silent on Mormon file 'fiddling' claims
Churchmen worried rival faith is 're-baptising' dead Catholics using records held in archive
By LIAM COLLINS
Sunday August 24 2008
THE director of the National Library has refused to comment on reports that the Mormons are using its records to re-baptise dead Catholics in their faith.
However Aongus O hAonghusa, director of the National Library of Ireland, has said that microfilms of Catholic parish registers are already available in many local heritage centres throughout the country.
The controversy has arisen in the Irish Catholic newspaper after it reported that Archbishop Dermot Clifford and Bishop Bill Murphy have written to the National Library stating that they were "taken aback" that records handed over by the Church are now open to "all comers".
This relates to Mormons -- or members of the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints -- trawling through parish records and using the names to posthumously baptise dead Catholics in the Mormon faith as part of a so-called "proxy baptism service".
A spokesperson for the Mormons told the Irish Catholic: "Posthumous baptisms by proxy have been common practice for the Mormons for more than a century allowing the dead to be baptised into the faith so they may be united in the after life", and she added that all available records are used to carry out this practice.
But Mr O hAonghusa, though refusing to be drawn into the controversy, has said that most Irish dioceses now allow unrestricted public access to their records, which have been handed over to the National Library.
"It is worth noting that all bar three Catholic dioceses had lifted any restrictions on access to the National Library's holding of microfilmed parish-registered records some years ago. In the case of the remaining three dioceses, the level of access varied from none in the case of records from the diocese of Cashel and Emily to minor restrictions in the case of the diocese of Cloyne and Kerry.
"You should be aware that microfilms of the Roman Catholic parish registers are already available in many local heritage centres through the country."
The growing concern in the Irish Church has emerged just months after the Vatican warned bishops' conferences around the world about Mormons accessing diocesan and parish registers, according to the Irish Catholic.
A source told the newspaper there is now a fear among senior Irish churchmen that making the records freely available will "encourage Mormons to baptise dead Irish Catholics en masse".
Archbishop Clifford told the Irish Catholic: "The Archdiocese has not surrendered its claim to copyright of the records held in trust at the National Library. In due course, a full statement on the matter will be made."
- LIAM COLLINS