New Mormon apostle led a global temple building boom and has deep knowledge of church finances
CITY OF SALT LAKE — Gérald Caussé, a senior official of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who oversaw its finances and the global temple building boom, became the faith’s new apostle on Thursday.
Caussé, 62, joins an all-male governing body called the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which sits directly under the church’s president and his two chief advisers. Apostles help set Church policy while overseeing the faith’s many business interests.
With his appointment, he joins the order of succession to the presidency of the Church, which is decided by seniority in the Quorum of the Twelve.
Originally from France, Caussé spent the last decade as a presiding bishop who managed the church’s money and social programs. Under his leadership, the Church increased its humanitarian spending and dotted the world with sumptuous temples where the most sacred ceremonies of the faith take place.
The faith widely known as the Mormon Church does not disclose or discuss its finances, but the latest filings by its investment arm, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc., value its portfolio at $58 billion. The Church’s operations include real estate, farms, publishing, life insurance, nonprofit organizations, universities, a Polynesian cultural center in Hawaii, and an upscale outdoor shopping center in Salt Lake City.
Caussé has at times been the official responsible for defending the Church’s secrecy surrounding its finances, saying in 2020: “We really consider these funds to belong to the Lord.”
He fills a vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve left by the recent death of President Russell M. Nelson and the appointment last month of a new president, Dallin H. Oaks, 93. In the first significant difference from Nelson’s presidency, Oaks announced at the faith’s recent general conference that the Church would slow down the announcement of new temples.
Born in Bordeaux, in southwest France, Caussé became the third European in the College of the Twelve.
During Nelson’s presidency, the Church injected some diversity into the previously all-white leadership committee by selecting the first Latino Apostle and the first Apostle of Asian descent. The faith, headquartered in Utah, has more than half of its 17.5 million members living outside the United States.
Apostles, who are called to serve for life, are generally older men who have succeeded in jobs outside the Church. Caussé was the general manager of Pomona, a food distribution company in France. The last three elected to the Quorum of the Twelve before him were a U.S. State Department official, an accountant for multinational corporations, and a board member of charities and schools.
