In-person meeting is first since onset of COVID-19 pandemic
By Sam Metz, Associated Press
Published: April 2, 2022, 6:58pm
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SALT LAKE CITY — Top leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints addressed COVID-19, the church’s support of non-discrimination laws, war in Ukraine and legacies of racism at the faith’s first in-person conference since the onset of the pandemic on Saturday.
The nearly 17 million-member faith, widely known as the Mormon Church, hosted about 10,000 people at its 21,000-seat conference center in Utah. Though its signature conference regularly reached full capacity before the pandemic, for two years, it’s been held mostly remotely, with the majority of viewers watching livestreams from afar.
President Russell Nelson, the Latter-day Saints’ 97-year-old prophet, told listeners gathered at the church’s Utah headquarters and tuning in remotely that the troubles afflicting the world reaffirmed the need for faith and devotion.
“Contention violates everything the savior stood for and taught,” he said.
He and other leaders mostly eschewed political issues, focused their remarks on spiritual matters, and stressed unity and faith amid worldwide struggles. However, several high-ranking officials who spoke Saturday decried the pitfalls of growing polarization and asked members of the faith to put their energy toward solution-oriented work rather than criticism focused on the past.
Church leader Neil Andersen implored members of the faith to focus on healing divisions, rather than dwelling on historical injustices or other divisive matters. Andersen encouraged tolerance and acceptance, highlighting the church’s support for non-discrimination legislation in Arizona designed to protect LGBTQ individuals.
“We genuinely love and care for all our neighbors, whether or not they believe as we do,” said Andersen, a member of a top governing church panel called the Quorum of Twelve Apostles.
The church has backed anti-discrimination laws in Arizona and Utah and over the past decade softened its stances toward LGBTQ members of the faith and their families; however, it remains opposed to same-sex marriage on theological grounds.
Unlike prior conferences, he and other church leaders did not explicitly address the nationwide reckoning over racial injustice. Andersen encouraged listeners to summon “the inner strength to cool, calm and quench the fiery darts aimed toward the truths we love.”
As an example of such a dart, he referenced a Salt Lake Tribune opinion piece that connected contemporary racism in Utah to historical examples of prejudice, including the church’s ban on Black members serving in the priesthood that was lifted nearly 50 years ago.
Andersen urged listeners to avoid “shrinking before those who disparage us” and share the faith in ways “void of anger or malice.”
