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Brittany Romanello , University of Arkansas

(THE CONVERSATION) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has spent the past few weeks in a moment of both mourning and transition. On Sept. 28, 2025, a shooting and arson at a Latter-day Saints meetinghouse in Michigan killed four people and wounded eight more. What’s more, Russell M. Nelson, president of the church, died the day before at age 101. Dallin H. Oaks , the longest-serving of the church’s top leaders, was announced the new president on Oct. 14.

Oaks will inherit leadership of a religious institution that is both deeply American and increasingly global – diversity at odds with the way it’s typic

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