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September 6, 2008 12:10:39 AM CDT

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New Mormon Prez Vows to Stay the Course

Posted Feb 4, 08 7:02 PM CST in US,  Arts & Living 

(Newser) – The new Mormon church president vowed to stay the course with "no abrupt changes" in policy after he was inaugurated this morning, the Deseret Morning News reports. Thomas S. Monson, 80, an old-fashioned storyteller who enjoys quoting Dickens, asked for God's "spirit in my heart and angels round about me to bear me up" in his effort to lead the 13-million member church, the AP reports.

Asked whether members could disagree with Mormon opposition to same-sex unions, Monson said he approved political debate, but "if it's an apostasy situation, that would not be appropriate." A sufferer of Type II diabetes, Monson is youngest Church president since 1973. He accepted the mantle after the recent death of President Gordon B. Hinckley, with whom Monson worked for 44 years.

Sources Deseret News (Salt Lake), Associated Press

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Thomas S. Monson gives his closing remarks during the funeral service of Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the Mormon church, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008, in Salt Lake City. Hinckley died Sunday. He was 97....   (Associated Press)
Dieter F. Uchtdorf, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, poses in his office Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008, in Salt Lake City. Uchtdorf is the only...   (Associated Press)
Family members are silhouetted against the Mormon Temple as they visit the temple grounds Sunday, January 27, 2008 in Salt Lake City. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints President Gordon B....   (Associated Press)
President Thomas S. Monson, right, gives a salute during the burial service of Gordon B. Hinckley, President of The Church of Latter-day Saints, on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008, in Salt Lake City. Hinckley...   (Associated Press)
In this Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007 picture, Thomas S. Monson, the First Counselor of the Mormon church, laughs while waiting for the start of the 177th semi-annual general conference of The Church of Jesus...   (Associated Press)
In this photo released by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney, right, and his wife Ann, right, greet Utah Sen. Bob Bennett, left, during the funeral service...   (Associated Press)
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gay marriage  • Mormon  • Salt Lake City  • Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints  • Gordon B. Hinckley  • Thomas Monson


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