Russell M. Nelson, oldest-ever president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dies at 101

City of Solt Lake – Church officials announced that Russell M. Nelson, the head of the Church of Jesus Christ for the last days, died on Saturday night at the age of 101.

Nelson died at his home in Salt Lake City.

Nelson, a former heart surgeon, spent four decades at the highest levels of church leadership after his choice in 1984 to join the senior control church called the nisaab of the twelve messengers. He ascended to the presidency in January 2018 when Thomas S. Monson and in 2024 became the first president of faith to reach the sign of the century.

The next president of faith, which is widely known as the Mormon Church, was not named immediately, but Dalin Oaks is expected to be in the church protocol. It is the longest members of the taller in the ruling quorum of the church from the twelve apostles.

Senator Mike Li from Uta posted a warm greeting to Silson on social media shortly after announcing.

He wrote to me: “I have always knew it, it has been alerted – and for me, it came to embody – the type of faith, humility and quiet trust that tends to be a continuous companion of a loyal servant and the followers of Jesus Christ.”

Nelson made major changes to the church

The former heart surgeon had a vital and transformative period, especially in 2018, his first year, when he issued a sudden announcement calling on people to stop using the names of “Mormons” and “LDS” as an alternative to the full name of religion, which is a sharp shift after the former church leaders spent millions to rely on Al -Munira for decades.

Nelson also occupied the headlines next year when he canceled the rules that prohibited baptism for gay parents and described husbands of the same sex as sinners for expulsion. These 2015 policies have generated a widespread violent reaction.

But although the Nelson administration was gentle and more welcoming to LGBTQ+ from those former presidents, the church’s position on gay marriage has not changed. His administration has also sharpened the rules that limit the participation of members who follow the medical procedures between the sexes or change their names, consciences, or how to wear their clothes, which leads to criticism that it would marginalize the transgender members.

Nelson and one of his senior advisers described their approach to LGBTQ+ members as trying to balance “the love of the Lord and the law of the Lord.”

The heads of faith, which is based in the state of Utah, is considered the seat of prophets who lead the church by revealing God in cooperation with two advisers and members of the quorum in the twelve.

Nelson was famous for leading the Church through the Covid-19s and cutting the centuries of faith with the scouts in America, and creating the church’s youth program, which can also serve more than half of its 17 million members who live outside the United States and Canada.

The separation came after the American scout boy decided to allow young members and volunteers adults to join LGBTQ+.

The period included checking the abuse reports

During his term, the long scrutiny of the way in which faith deals with sexual assault reports with local leaders. An investigation into the Associated Press found that sexual abuse of reporting the hotline can be misused by his leaders to transfer the accusations of abuse away from the application of the law and instead to the church lawyer who may bury the problem, leaving the victims in the way of harm.

Nelson leaders and church leaders defended their practices, saying that the hotline “has everything related to the protection of children and has nothing to do with covering up.”

The church also faced an audit about the closed door, and the individual interviews between young people and local adult leaders, as questions may arise about identity and sex.

Faith has changed his guidance to direct ordinary leaders to ignore a report on abuse, which is more direct instructions than previous guidelines. Children also allowed a parent or adults with them during one interview with the church leaders known as the bishops.

Nelson, the leadership and forged partnerships

Nelson also appointed non -American leaders to the white and most American wise body and prompted the publication of a regional hymns that celebrates local music and culture all over the world.

The President briefly made Sunday services and accelerated a long batch to build more temples, which led to the interruption of the world with the role of luxurious worship in faith despite the resistance in some parts of the United States

He also designed an official partnership with NAACP. Until 1978, the Church banned the black men of the ordinary priesthood, a policy rooted in racial belief that the black skin was curse. The Church delayed the reasons behind the embargo in the 2013 article, but it has never issued an official apology. It is still one of the most sensitive topics for the church.

Nelson was born in Salt Lake City in 1924, joining religion in adulthood. He was a 22 -year -old doctor who served a two -year medical tour during the Korean war before resuming a medical profession that included to be a director of chest surgery at Utah University.

Nelson was known for his accuracy skills, which made him a successful surgeon during his period in the leadership of the Church. Al -Mormon Researcher Matthew Bowman, a professor of religion at the university studies universities in Claarmont, said that he had a good reputation in emphasizing obedience to the law and what he called the “Covenant’s Path”, a series of decrees and practices that define life in faith.

Nelson and his first wife, Dantal White, were 10 children together. After her death in 2005, Nelson married Windy Watson in 2006.