LDS and Greek Orthododox Leaders Died

The following news item was of interest:

Gordon B. Hinckley, the president and prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who led Mormonism through a period of global expansion, died Sunday at his home in Salt Lake City. He was 97…

In President Hinckley’s term, the church grew to count more than 12 million members worldwide — more than the largest Lutheran denomination. It is now believed to be the fourth-largest church in the United States. (But the Mormon church has acknowledged reports that a significant percentage of new converts, especially overseas, do not remain active members.)

CNN’s Glenn Beck could was teary-eyed when he discussed this. Until last night I did not know that he was LDS.

A related news story stated:

As a counselor to the last three presidents of the LDS Church, President Thomas S. Monson’s intimate working knowledge of how the faith’s First Presidency functions puts him in a unique position at a time when the church has a higher public profile than ever before.

With the death of 97-year-old President Gordon B. Hinckley on Sunday, President Monson returns to his place as president of the Quorum of the Twelve, which is now functioning as the church’s governing body and will do so until a successor is named. That isn’t expected to occur until next week at the earliest, following tributes and funeral services for President Hinckley.

Yet Latter-day Saints don’t remain silent about the future when leadership changes are pending, and if the church follows historical precedent, President Monson — as senior apostle — would be named and sustained by fellow apostles as president of the church.

Because of their belief to store food for emergencies, I suspect that once the USA is taken over that the few that survive and do not become slaves will partially exist on food that the LDS have stored.

Though the article does not discuss food storage, an article of possible interest may be Five Dissimilarities Between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Living Church of God

In addition, notice that the leader of a different church also died:

ATHENS — Archbishop Christodoulos, the charismatic leader of the Greek Orthodox Church who worked to heal centuries-old grievances with the Roman Catholic Church but stirred controversy with his politically tinged statements and tireless interventions in state affairs, died on Monday at his home in the Athens suburb Psychiko. He was 69…

In his most momentous step as the church’s leader, he mended rifts with the Vatican, receiving Pope John Paul II in Athens in 2001, on the first visit to Greece by a pontiff in nearly 1,300 years. The divide between Rome-based and Eastern European Christianity dates from 1054, but it deepened in the 20th century.

The archbishop, who was schooled by Catholic monks in Athens, made a historic visit to the Vatican last year, meeting Pope Benedict XVI, despite widespread opposition to his visit from conservative adherents of the Orthodox faith.

Senior prelates will have 20 days to elect a new church leader in an election process shrouded in secrecy.

More than 90 percent of Greece’s 10.2 million people are baptized into the church, and at least 5 million more adherents live abroad. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/world/europe/29christodoulos.html?ref=europe

According to both biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies, the Orthodox are expected to gain increased unity with the Church of Rome. However, as I have written before the Orthodox Must Reject Unity with the Roman Catholics.

However, it appears likely that the next head of the Greek Orthodox Church will be inclined to follow the unity lead of Archbishop Christodoulos.

Two articles of related interest may include:

Some Similarities and Differences Between the Orthodox Church and the Living Church of God Both groups have some amazing similarities and some major differences. Do you know what they are?
Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Living Church of God? Do you know that both groups shared a lot of the earliest teachings? Do you know which church changed? Do you know which group is most faithful to the teachings of the apostolic church? Which group best represents true Christianity? This documented article answers those questions.