The Catholic Church’s most recently-canonized saint , Father Damian, who was famous for his work among the lepers of Hawaii, just got married.

That’s a surprise to all who knew him in life as celibate, but according to researcher Helen Radkey, LDS proxies not only performed a baptism after his death so that he can be considered a Mormon; but also performed a wedding ceremony in his behalf so that he can be married in eternity.

“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.”

2 Responses to “Reason #113: More Proxy Baptism and Marriage Shenanigans in LDS Temples”

1. 
   February 25th, 2010 at 6:30 pm

   In order for anyone to be sealed to his/her spouse in the temple, you have to have one in real life. The church requires some documentation from an unimpeachable source such as a death certificate, marriage certificate, or census where the person claims another as spouse, in writing. Those are the rules. If something other than that happened, you can be assured it is a clerical error and the sealing did not take place. In some cases, the member who submitted the dead couple’s name connects the wrong person. That means they got the wrong John Smith connected with Mary Jones. In such cases, the sealing, if it took place, is not valid. That certainly seems to be the case with the good Father Damian.

2. 
   February 25th, 2010 at 6:59 pm

   Thank you for your comment. Tell me, how is it that so many single women were sealed to Joseph Smith after his death, if what you said is true?

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