Question
Recently I heard that the Catholic Church said that, from its perspective, Mormon's were not really baptized. Can you explain the decision?
--Murky in Moab
Answer
Recently the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome was asked to reconsidered a decision about Mormon baptism and its validity. For years, the Catholic Church considered Mormon baptism doubtful. Now, the doubt has been resolved with this ruling. It considers Mormon baptism invalid in its decision this past Spring 2001. This means, Mormons are considered as other unbaptized persons for all purposes, including RCIA, marriage, annulment, and privilege of the faith cases. Additionally, the decision is retroactive because it is considered to be a matter of the divine law. This means that in the past any marriage involving a Catholic and a Mormon that did not receive a dispensation from the impediment of disparity of cult, the marriage will now be considered as having always been not valid. It will need a convalidation or sanction, but before this is done there must be assurances that the marriage is sound. No convalidation or sanction should be done for a marriage that is in trouble and might end in divorce. Also, if any Mormon has been received into the Catholic Church without baptism, at least conditionally, the person in question is not yet a Christian and must be baptized and subsequent sacraments repeated.