ST. GEORGE – Officials for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are looking into the posthumous baptism of Stanley Ann Dunham, mother of President Barack Obama.
According to published reports, a temple ritual known as “baptism for the dead” was performed June 4, 2008, for Dunham, who died in 1995, in the Provo temple. On June 11, in the same temple, another temple rite known as the “endowment” was performed for Dunham.”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,” Scott Trotter, a spokesman for the LDS Church, said. “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.”
[Thanks, Nic!]