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Hinckley Pioneered Church's Expansion

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The Associated Press

Published: January 29, 2008

SALT LAKE CITY - Mormonism's home is America, but most of its believers don't live here anymore.

In the past 13 years the church has flourished as never before around the world, with new temples rising in Africa and South America and new members joining by the tens of thousands.

The expansion is a testament to the tireless work of Gordon B. Hinckley, the church's president and a sort of spiritual pioneer who traveled as no Mormon leader had before to raise the church's profile. He died Sunday at age 97.

Claudio Zivic, who oversees the church's affairs in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, recalled a Hinckley address to a crowd of 50,000 in Buenos Aires in 1996.

"We know that all the prophets are very special for us. But he touched our lives in every possible way," Zivic said. "He has taught us to be a little better, to stand a little taller and to do what is right."

Surrounded by family and friends, Hinckley died at home Sunday night of complications arising from old age. He was the oldest church president and served in that post for nearly 13 years, beginning in March 1995.

Dozens of mourners gathered outside the Mormon church headquarters to honor Hinckley.

College students sang hymns by the light of their cell phones.

Kelly Ford, 28, of Kaysville stared at a painting of Hinckley in the church visitor's center. She recalled how he had taken time to speak to teenagers.

"He was a complete optimist. He talked about our potential and what the Lord expects of us," Ford said. "He was the greatest optimist I've ever known."

Republican Mitt Romney, whose bid to become the first Mormon elected president has also raised the profile of the church, said Monday he would miss the humility and wisdom of Hinckley and plans to attend his funeral.

If leaders hold with tradition, the next president of the church will be a soft-spoken World War II veteran with a love for telling stories.
Succession to the presidency is historically based on seniority, and Thomas S. Monson, 80, is in line to succeed Hinckley.

Officially, the next leader of the 13 million-member church won't be elevated until after Hinckley is laid to rest at 11 a.m. Saturday at the church conference center in Salt Lake City.

Church presidents serve for life. The title usually passes to the senior-most member of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles when a president dies.

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