In Nizhny Novgorod, they are concerned about the interest of Mormons in metric books

A statement was circulated by the press service of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese, which informs about the intention of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) to receive copies from the Central Archive of the Nizhny Novgorod Region from registers of births that were kept before 1917. The announcement came as the diocese's reaction to local media reports of Mormons "buying up dead souls". The names of the deceased Nizhny Novgorod residents are needed to perform the Mormon rite - the posthumous initiation of men into members of their religious association and marriages with deceased women. This, according to the teachings of the Mormons, will help the dead to rise on the day of the Last Judgment.

The Nizhny Novgorod diocese considers such actions to be contrary to common sense. Director of the archive Viktor Kharlamov said that the customer is obliged to pay 7 cents for each frame of the microfilm. The archive will keep the second copy necessary for the preservation of documents; the archive would not be able to cope with its production on its own.

The regional prosecutor's office also intervened in the case, turning to the archives with a request about the grounds on which this institution sells information and whether this information is secret. Director of the archive V.A. Kharlamov, in this regard, turned to his metropolitan authorities, and until the circumstances were clarified, he forbade making copies from registers of births.

According to " Sedmitsa ", in February a commission to investigate the circumstances of the Mormons' activities began work in Nizhny Novgorod. Who formed the commission is not reported.

Sources

• The Nizhny Novgorod diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church MP expressed concern about the interest of the Mormons in the archive of the Nizhny Novgorod region // Portal-Credo.ru. 2003. October 23.
• Maiorov V. Dead souls are bought in Nizhny Novgorod: The prosecutor's office does not allow Mormons to marry the dead of the Nizhny Novgorod province // Russian courier. 2003. November 12.
• In Nizhny Novgorod, a commission began to study the fact that Mormons bought "dead souls" in the local archive // Week.ru. 2004. February 4.