The Mormon church has apologized for baptisms by proxy conducted for the parents of famed Jewish Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal, calling it a "serious breach of protocol."
A statement issued by the church, whose formal name is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, said the actions violated Mormon policy.
Although the Mormons believe in so-called proxy baptism for deceased relatives, "the policy of the church is that members can request these baptisms only for their own ancestors."
"Proxy baptisms of Holocaust victims are strictly prohibited," the statement added.
The statement was issued in response to criticism from the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, a non-government organization created by the Austrian-born Wiesenthal which tracks former Nazis and promotes human rights.
It pointed out that the baptisms were being held in Mormon temples for Asher and Rosa Rapp Wiesenthal, Austrian Jews who died during the Holocaust in World War II, when millions were killed in Nazi death camps.
"We are outraged that such insensitive actions continue in the Mormon temples," said the center's Rabbi Abraham Cooper.
"We note that these rites were undertaken and confirmed in Mormon temples in Utah, Arizona, and Idaho. Further meetings with church leaders on this matter are useless."
The Mormon church statement said the names "were not submitted for baptisms but simply entered into a genealogical database," and that "our system would have rejected those names had they been submitted."
"In a few instances, names have been submitted in violation of policy," the church statement noted.
"Whether this is done by simple error or for other reasons, the church considers these submissions to be a serious breach of protocol."