Elder D. Todd Christofferson said
Friday that while gay couples may marry in the United States, that
right does not exist in the Mormon Church.
Christofferson of the Quorum of Twelve
Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS
Church) made the comment in an interview posted online a day after
the church issued a rule change that allows officials to oust married
gays and their children.
Under the changes to the Handbook of
Instructions, gay married Mormons are considered apostates, which
could lead to excommunication. Additionally, the children of
parents in gay or lesbian relationships, married or cohabiting,
cannot join the Mormon Church until they turn 18 and then only if
they are no longer living with their parents, disavow same-sex
relationships and receive approval from the church's highest leaders.
“We regard same-sex marriage as a
particularly grievous or significant, serious kind of sin that
requires church discipline,” he
said. “We recognize that same-sex marriages are now legal in
the United States and some other countries and that people have the
right, if they choose, to enter into those, and we understand that.
But that is not a right that exists in the church.”
Christofferson described the new policy
as compassionate: “There's no kindness in misdirecting people and
leading them into any misunderstanding about what is true, what is
right, what is wrong, what leads to Christ and what leads away from
Christ.”
Nathan Kitchen, a 47-year-old gay
Mormon with five children who recently divorced his wife, described
the new policy to the AP as “almost too much to bear.”
John Dehlin, who was excommunicated
earlier this year for supporting marriage equality, told The
New York Times that the changes would “trigger a huge round
of excommunications for legally same-sex married Mormons” and that
it “closes the door on future change.”