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Helvécio Martins (27 July 1930 – 14 May 2005) was the first person of
Black African descent to be called as a
general authority of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
Born to descendants of African slaves in
Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, Martins joined the LDS Church in 1972, despite his knowledge that the LDS Church did not then allow members of Black African descent to hold the
priesthood or to receive
temple ordinances.
On 9 June 1978, Martins and his family heard of the
announcement
Announcement may refer to:
* "Announcement" (song), a 2008 song by Common
* Announcement (computing), a message about a new software version
* Campaign announcement
A campaign announcement is the formal public launch of a political campaign, o ...
that the LDS Church was lifting the priesthood ban. After Martins received the priesthood and his temple ordinances, he served in the church as a
bishop, counselor to a
stake president, and as
president of the Brazil
Fortaleza
Fortaleza (, locally , Portuguese for ''Fortress'') is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil. It belongs to the Metropolitan mesoregion of Fortaleza and microregion of Fortaleza. It is Brazil's 5th largest city and the t ...
Mission.
In April 1990,
church president Ezra Taft Benson called Martins as a member of the
Second Quorum of the Seventy. Martins became the first black general authority in the LDS Church.
After serving a standard five-year term as a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy, Martins was honorably released as a general authority on 30 September 1995. He died in
Santo André,
São Paulo, Brazil at age 74.
Martins dictated his life story which was published as ''The Autobiography of Elder Helvecio Martins''.
[Helvecio Martins and ]Mark Grover Mark Leroy Grover (born 1947) is an American expert on Mormonism in Brazil and an author on religion in Latin America.
Biography
Grover was born in Malad, Idaho and is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He se ...
, ''The Autobiography of Elder Helvecio Martins'' (Aspen Books, 1994, ).
Martins' son,
Marcus Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to:
* Marcus (name), a masculine given name
* Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name
Places
* Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44
* MărcuÅŸ, a village in DobârlÄ ...
, is the chair of the religion department at
Brigham Young University–Hawaii.
See also
*
1978 Revelation on Priesthood
*
Blacks and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Over the past two centuries, the relationship between black people and Mormonism has included both official and unofficial discrimination.
From the mid-1800s to 1978, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) prevented most ...
*
Joseph W. Sitati
Joseph Wafula Sitati (born 16 May 1952) has been a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since 2009, when he became a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. He is the church's first black African ge ...
Notes
References
"Elder Helvécio Martins of the Seventy" ''
Ensign'', May 1990, p. 106.
External links
Obituary by LDS Genesis Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martins, Helvecio
1930 births
Brazilian general authorities (LDS Church)
Brazilian Mormon missionaries
Converts to Mormonism
Members of the Second Quorum of the Seventy (LDS Church)
Mission presidents (LDS Church)
Mormonism and race
Mormon missionaries in Brazil
People from Rio de Janeiro (city)
20th-century Mormon missionaries
2005 deaths
Black Mormons