Russell M Nelson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died on Saturday aged 101 in Salt Lake City, Utah, the church has said.
Dr Nelson was the oldest serving head of the church and was revered as a prophet. He was credited with leading sweeping policy changes in the last decade of his life.
“His time as prophet will forever be remembered as one of global ministry, increased temple construction and profound change,” the church said.
Dallin H Oaks, who is expected by many to become the church’s next president, remembered Dr Nelson as a someone with “extraordinary modesty for a man of his great accomplishments”.
“He is just the gentlest and sweetest person you could ever hope to associate with. And he will always be remembered that way,” Mr Oaks said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump also paid his respects to Dr Nelson, writing on Truth Social that he was “sharp and engaged in service up until the end”.
“Russell had a remarkable life, pioneering life-saving heart surgery techniques and, of course, his ministry of many decades,” Trump wrote. “He was a physician, literally and spiritually, and will be greatly missed!”
The life of Dr Nelson is being remembered at a time when the church is also in mourning for four attendees of a Sunday service at a church in Michigan – where a gunman opened fire and set the building ablaze before he was killed by police.
Dr Nelson, who was a trained surgeon, was called as an apostle of the church in 1984 and became its president in 2018. He visited 32 countries and US territories and announced 200 new temples, the church said.
In 2019, the church made a surprise move under the helm of Dr Nelson by pledging to roll back a series of anti-LGBT policies introduced in 2015 that had reportedly led to 1,500 people leaving the church in protest.
It said it would no longer ban the children of same-sex parents from being baptised, and would no longer treat same-sex marriage as an offence worthy of expulsion.
Under Dr Nelson’s leadership, the church also severed its long-standing ties to the Boy Scouts of America in favour of designing its own youth programmes, and campaigned for the eradication of nicknames like “Mormon” to label the faith.
The term, however, is still used in the title of the faith’s scripture, the Book of Mormon.
Before he became president, Dr Nelson was part of a team that developed a machine to support open-heart surgery. At age 31, he became the first person to perform the procedure in Utah.
He died less than a month after his 101st birthday, and is survived by his wife, Wendy, and eight of his 10 children.
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