Posted on 10/13/2009 11:38:13 AM PDT by Colofornian
Father Damien, the Roman Catholic priest who cared for lepers in Hawaii in the 19th century, apparently is a saint twice over.
Damien, who was born Joseph De Veuster in Belgium, was canonized a saint by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday in Rome.
But Helen Radkey, a critic of the Salt Lake City-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said Monday that research shows Mormons have both baptized Damien by proxy and "sealed" him for eternity to a wife named Marie Damien.
There is no evidence Damien ever married, which would have been a violation of his vow of celibacy.
St. Damien, who died of leprosy in 1889 after working among those quarantined on the Hawaiian island of Molokai for 16 years, is considered an intercessor for patients with leprosy (Hansen's disease), HIV, AIDS as well as for abandoned children, disoriented youths, exploited women, neglected elderly people and oppressed minorities.
The Catholic Church declares a person to be a saint -- or a model for the faithful and a person who has special pull with God in answer to prayers -- only after extensive investigation and proof of two miracles.
Radkey said research into the LDS Church's FamilySearch database indicates that Damien, born in 1840 in Belgium, was baptized by proxy, given his "endowments" and sealed to his parents for eternity Oct. 22, 1983, in the Los Angeles Temple.
More recently, Damien was sealed to a wife, which Radkey calls "bogus," on
March 15, 2000, at the Jordan River Temple in South Jordan.
"It's blatantly wrong to seal a person who took a vow of celibacy as a Catholic priest and is so revered in his Catholic religion," said Radkey, a former Catholic. "It's insulting to perform such an action posthumously. It's very disrespectful."
LDS Church spokesman Scott Trotter said he could not comment on the specifics of Radkey's claim, which echoes her previous reports that Mormons have performed ordinances for President Barack Obama's mother, Holocaust victims and fundamentalist polygamists who were booted from the church.
"It is counter to church policy to submit anyone's name for temple ordinances if you aren't related to that person," Trotter said. "The church reiterates this policy regularly and we follow it to the best of our ability."
LDS doctrine holds that baptisms and other ordinances performed by the living in temples are offered to those who have died, who are free in the afterlife to accept or reject them.
If it was ‘by proxy’, then it seems it means absolutely nothing to the person in question, it only makes those who did the ‘by proxy’ action feel good. Pointless symbolism.
With the continuing torrent of proxy baptisms, it is apparent that the church's policy is not being very efficiently enforced.
Funny, I’ve been taking the lists of mormons to a local bar and proxy baptizing them in the Church of Beer, BBQ, and slightly-trashy babes.
Since they think it’s OK to do this to others, they shouldn’t mind.
If they can baptize dead people, they can do anything.
All of which means less than jack squat to us Catholics.
They can’t have BBQ either? The coffee thing I thought was strange enough, but BBQ?
In the Spring of '08 on a FReeper thread, aMorePerfectUnion posted this FReeper note:
eHaremny!
You are looking for a wife? Please choose one...
A. Alive Wife
B. Dead Wife
'Tis seems that assessment is appropo -- as contemporary Mormons continue to see themselves as marital matchmakers for the dead! [Cue the macabre Halloween organ music]
My comeback to AMPU at that time was to come up with a marketing tag-line for "eHaremny": "We evaluate 'sister wives' on 29 dimensions of compatibility!"
Here was some of the potential "ad copy" we discussed running for "e-haremny":
"The Last days got you down?
"Single with absolutely no hope of attaining the celestial kingdom level minus a husband?
"Wanna be eternally pregnant with spirit babies?
"Can't wait to call your husband 'Master & Lord' forever?
"Wanna permanently lose the line, 'Not tonight, honey, I have a headache?'
"Call eHaremny now!"
(AMPU and I are working on a Muslim version of eHaremny as well. We'll up the dimensions' match-up from 29 to their Scriptural specifications of 72; plus it's not just any woman...they have to to be virgins. In the interest of the sanctity-of-life, however, I think we'll be excluding applications from martyrs)
I don’t know. Sounds pretty polluting, so probably not.
Think I’ll introduce myself as “Brigam Young” tonight if I get a chance. He needs a proxy baptism in my new church.
My exact sentiments. Was this act taken on by the LDS Church or by some individual Mormon who believed they were related to Fr. Damien?
Can I be sealed with Marilyn Monroe—just for the heck of it?
Yes, and, in fact, you can rest on top of her for eternity.
Is this a JOKE??? Baptizing a DEAD person means NOTHING....NOTHING! And “marrying” a dead person to another person, dead or alive, is a joke also!! Is the LDS off the rails just on this or one other thigns???
No, remarkably LDS believe that doing these things helps those living (and are being baptised in proxy for the dead) attain godhood when they die.
We need to get Joseph Smith married to this guy for eternity.............
Temple Mormons believe they either can become gods -- or they are already (their leaders have frequently used the phrase, "god-in-embyros"). Does that answer your question?
(And when I say "god" -- I mean the whole nine yards; omnipotent; omniscient; worshiped & adored by billions of spirit children that they and their wife or wives would have -- if it were all true)
“who are free in the afterlife to accept or reject them.”
Accept or reject.
Why does this person continue to obsess about LDS ordinances? Freedom of religion, you know.
“All of which means less than jack squat to us Catholics. “
And to all non-Mormons. So what’s the big deal?
But not for the individual proxy baptised eh? What wonderful disrespect for their freedom.
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