The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released 31 Area Seventies this month, as announced Friday, Aug. 26.
Under the direction of the Presidency of the Seventy and the respective area presidency, Area Seventies meet with and teach Church leaders, missionaries and members in local congregations.
In addition to the 31 released, Elder ‘Inoke F. Kupu, an Area Seventy from Tonga who served in the Pacific Area, died of cancer Saturday, Aug. 13, at age 63.
In leadership meetings prior to April 2022 general conference, 45 new Area Seventies from 23 countries were announced and presented for a sustaining vote. They were sustained as well during April 2022 general conference.
Beginning in 2021, Area Seventies were announced and sustained in the leadership meeting, rather than a general session of conference, and announced by the Church News and ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Also, Area Seventies are now released on Aug. 1 — and announced in a similar fashion as those newly called — rather than during October general conference.
The Church has 12 quorums of the Seventy. The first two quorums are comprised of General Authority Seventies, who have authority to serve anywhere in the world. The remaining 10 quorums are Area Seventies.
Area Seventies are called in each of the Church’s geographic areas throughout the world. Like General Authority Seventies, Area Seventies are ordained to the office of Seventy in the Melchizedek Priesthood. However, Area Seventies are not considered general authorities, and their authority is generally limited to the area where they serve.
Area Seventies live at home and serve on a Church-service basis for a designated number of years, similar to a bishop or stake president. They maintain their nonreligious vocations.
The 31 released, by quorum, are:
Third Quorum of the Seventy (Africa Central, Africa South, and Africa West areas): Artur J. Miranda, Elie K. Monga and Anthony Quaisie.
Fourth Quorum of the Seventy (Asia and Asia North Areas): Ting Tsung Chang and Yutaka Nagatomo.
Fifth Quorum of the Seventy (Brazil Area): Luciano Cascardi, José L. Del Guerso and Carlos R. Fusco Jr.
Sixth Quorum of the Seventy (Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico Areas): Luis R. Arbizú, Pablo H. Chavez, Jorge A. García, Sandino Roman and Johnny F. Ruiz.
Seventh Quorum of the Seventy (Europe Central, Europe East, Europe North and Middle East / Africa North Areas): Alessandro Dini Ciacci, Karl D. Hirst and K. Roy Tunnicliffe.
Eighth Quorum of the Seventy (Pacific and Philippines Areas): Paul N. Lekias.
Ninth Quorum of the Seventy (South America Northwest and South America South Areas): David A. Benalcázar, Ariel E. Chaparro (Effective Oct. 1, 2022), A. Fabio Moscoso, Juan C. Pozo, Martin C. Rios and Rosendo Santos.
Tenth Quorum of the Seventy (North America Central, North America Northeast, and North America Southeast Areas): Michael V. Beheshti, Kevin E. Calderwood and Gordon H. Smith.
Eleventh Quorum of the Seventy (North America Southwest and North America West Areas): Gary F. Gessel, Ren S. Johnson and Jay B. Jones.
Twelfth Quorum of the Seventy (Utah Area): Berne S. Broadbent and Raymond A. Cutler.
