Russell M. Nelson, the oldest serving president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who led sweeping church policy changes in the last decade of his life, died on Saturday in Salt Lake City. He was 101.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints confirmed his death in a statement on Saturday night. It said he had died at home and did not give a cause of death.
Long before he became president of the church, Dr. Nelson was a respected surgeon who was part of a team that developed a machine in 1951 to support open-heart surgery. Four years later, at age 31, he became the first person in Utah to perform the procedure. But he left the profession when he was called into the upper echelons of his church at age 59.
Dr. Nelson became president and prophet of the church at 93, and ushered in a surprising spread of new policies, delivering significant changes to a tradition that had grown to more than 17.5 million members worldwide under his leadership as of 2024.
“Eat your vitamin pills. Get some rest,” Dr. Nelson told believers in 2018, the year he became president. “It’s going to be exciting.”
That year, Dr. Nelson instructed members to stop using the term “Mormon” to describe the church and its believers, though many journalists, scholars and others continue to use the word. He explained to members that “to remove the Lord’s name from the Lord’s Church is a major victory for Satan.”
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post Russell M. Nelson, 17th President of the Mormon Church, Dies at 101 appeared first on New York Times.
