US | Mormon Leaders Push Mormons to Baptize Their Dead Ancestors Practice is reportedly becoming more common By Kate Seamons Posted Apr 2, 2017 3:10 PM CDT Copied This Aug. 4, 2015, file photo, flowers bloom in front of the Salt Lake Temple, at Temple Square, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) Mormon leaders reminded church members Saturday about the importance of performing ceremonial baptisms on dead ancestors who didn't receive the ordinance while alive. It's a practice unique to the faith that came under fire in the past from Jews when they discovered Holocaust victims, including Anne Frank, were being baptized. Henry Eyring told a worldwide audience during a twice-yearly Mormon conference in Salt Lake City that God wants all his children "home again, in families and in glory." He encouraged listeners to use the religion's massive genealogical database to trace their roots, reports the AP. Ceremonial baptisms occur when a member brings an ancestor's name to a temple. Mormons believe the ritual allows deceased people a way to the afterlife if they choose to accept what they see as an offering of love. The belief that families are sealed for eternity is one of the faith's core tenets. The practice is becoming more common because young church members have embraced it, said Eyring, a member of a top governing body of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, called the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Separately, the AP reports church president Thomas S. Monson on Sunday announced the 15.8 million-member Mormon church plans to build five more temples across the globe: in Saratoga Springs, Utah; Brasilia, Brazil; the greater Manila area of the Philippines; Nairobi, Kenya; and Pocatello, Idaho. Read These Next Gavin Newsom has filed a massive lawsuit against Fox News. New York Times ranks the best movies of the 21st century. A man has been deported for kicking an airport customs beagle. White House rolls with Trump's 'daddy' nickname. Report an error