Two Mormon leaders battling serious health issues


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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Two of the Mormon church's aging leaders are battling serious health issues.

L. Tom Perry, 92, the second-most senior member of the high-level Mormon governing body called the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, has been diagnosed with cancer, church spokesman Eric Hawkins said Friday.

Perry will begin radiation treatment Friday to treat cancer discovered in his thyroid gland, Hawkins said. Perry was hospitalized earlier this week with breathing difficulty, but allowed to go home after tests and observations.

Richard G. Scott, 86, another member of the quorum, was hospitalized Thursday night with gastrointestinal bleeding, Hawkins said. Scott is resting now after the bleeding was brought under control.

The quorum is a governing body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that is modeled after Jesus Christ's apostles and serves under the church president and his two counselors.

Nine of the 15 members in the religion's core leadership group are at least 80 years old. President Thomas S. Monson is 87. Perry is the oldest of the group.

Originally from Logan, Utah, Perry spent his professional career as a vice president and treasurer in retail business before being named to the quorum in 1974. He was one of four leaders to meet with President Barack Obama during his recent trip to Utah.

He was also in attendance when Mormon leaders and state lawmakers introduced a landmark bill in March that bars discrimination against gay and transgender individuals while protecting the rights of religious groups and individuals.

But while Perry was greeted warmly by LGBT advocates that day, he drew their rebuke in early April when he gave a speech about the church being a leading advocate for traditional families and speaking out against "counterfeit and alternative lifestyles."

Scott was born in Pocatello, Idaho, and had a successful career as a nuclear engineer. He was named to the quorum in 1988.

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BRADY McCOMBS

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