Mormon president Russell Nelson dies at 101

The president of the Latter-day Saints religious organization, Russell Nelson, died on Saturday at his Salt Lake City home. He was 101—the oldest president in the group’s history, according to an LDS statement. He was known for making many changes in the LDS group. Nelson is survived by his second wife, Wendy, and eight of his 10 children. He also had 57 grandchildren and more than 167 great-grandchildren, according to the organization.

Mormon leaders planned to wait until after Nelson’s funeral to choose a successor, according to an LDS statement.

What kind of a leader was Nelson? He left a career as a top heart surgeon in 1984 to become one of the LDS organization’s 15 leaders, termed apostles, overseeing growth and development. He became the president of the Latter-day Saints in January 2018, kicking off years of travels to meet with Mormons worldwide, as well as other religious leaders and government officials.

During his time leading the group, Nelson changed some of its policies related to same-sex marriage. The LDS leadership would no longer treat such a marriage as an apostasy, he said in 2019. He also removed a requirement for children of same-sex couples to receive his explicit permission for baptism.

Nelson also shortened and combined Sunday services at Mormon houses of worship, switching a three-hour time block to two hours. The change was meant to allow families more time for religious instruction at home, according to a statement. He also changed guidelines for LDS missionaries, allowing them to contact their families once a week by phone or video call, rather than only through letters and emails. He also instituted a global youth program and removed a global rule requiring couples married in civil ceremonies to wait a year before holding an LDS wedding ceremony.

Dig deeper: Read Travis K. Kircher’s report on a deadly attack at a Mormon house of worship over the weekend.