Mormon president issues plea on racism

SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' president issued another plea for members to help end racism, saying Sunday, Oct. 4, at the faith's signature conference that God loves people of all races equally and that it pains him to see Black people suffer prejudice.

Russell M. Nelson's comments followed similar speeches by other top leaders Saturday at the conference that comes asmany members live through a reckoning over racial injustice, especially in the U.S. following the May police killing of Black man George Floyd.

“God does not love one race more than another. His doctrine on this matter is clear,” Nelson said. “I assure you that your standing before God is not determined by the color of your skin.“

Members believe church presidents are living prophets who receive revelations from God.

Like the leaders who spoke on Saturday, Nelson didn't mention the church's past ban on Black men in the lay priesthood. The prohibition — which stood until 1978— was rooted in the belief that black skin was a curse. It remains one of the most sensitive topics in the faith's history.

The Utah-based religion known widely as the Mormon church doesn't provide ethnic or racial breakdowns of its 16.6 million members — but scholars say Black followers make up a small portion of adherents.

None of the 15 men who will sit on the faith's top leadership panels are Black. Church leadership did become more diverse in 2018 when it sent to the previously allwhite Quorum of the Twelve Apostles its first-ever apostles of Latin American and Asian descent.