The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints bolstered diversity on its 12-man leadership body Saturday, adding two ethnic minorities as the faith expands its global presence.
Delegates at the biannual LDS General Conference in Salt Lake City also confirmed the leadership of 93-year-old president Russell Nelson, a former heart surgeon who is the second-oldest man to lead the Mormon church.
The religious organization, known for its overseas and door-knocking missionary work, named Chinese-American Gerrit Gong as the first non-white member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the church’s second-highest leadership body.
Ulisses Soares from Brazil also joined the leadership body.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the men are “the first ethnic minorities to be named Mormon apostles.”
The apostles are entirely male, and outranked only by the three-man First Presidency, which includes Nelson, according to the church’s website.
Nelson has led the large Utah-based religious organization since January, but this was his first conference as church leader. Members of the church stood to “sustain” his leadership.
Although historically based in Utah, where Mormons migrated to the 1800s to avoid persecution, just 12 percent of the world’s 15 million Mormons currently live in the state.
