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Historian examines Brazil's role in ending LDS Church's racial ban

September 3, 2026 at 4:05 PM MT · via YouTube / Benjamin Park, Historian · Summarized by Mormon News from original reporting

Historian Benjamin Park examines how Brazil's complex racial history collided with the LDS Church's former priesthood and temple restrictions, creating pressure that contributed to the 1978 revelation ending the ban. The video, which has drawn over 5,000 views in 32 hours, explores how the Church's growth in Brazil made the racial restriction increasingly untenable.

Park, a professor of history at Sam Houston State University, traces the Church's expansion in Brazil beginning in the 1930s and the practical challenges posed by Brazil's history of racial mixing, which made it difficult to determine who was subject to the restriction. He argues that Brazil became a test case that Church leaders could not avoid addressing.

The video draws on archival research and scholarship about the 1978 policy change, which granted priesthood ordination and temple access to Black members worldwide.

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