New Mormon apostle led a global temple building boom and has deep knowledge of church finances

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Gérald Caussé, a high-ranking official in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who oversaw a global temple building boom under its previous president, became the faith's newest apostle on Thursday.

Caussé, 62, joins an all-male governing body called the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which sits just under the president and two top counselors. Apostles help set church policy while overseeing the faith’s many business interests.

A native of France, Caussé brings to the panel an intimate knowledge of the church's vast finances from his time dotting the globe with lavish temples where the faith's most sacred ceremonies take place.

The faith known widely as the Mormon church does not disclose or discuss its finances, but the latest filings from its investment arm, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc., valued its portfolio at $58 billion. Caussé has at times been the official tasked with defending the church's secrecy surrounding its finances, saying in 2020, “We really consider those funds as belonging 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, a 93-year-old former Utah Supreme Court justice. In the first significant difference from Nelson’s presidency, Oaks announced during the faith’s recent general conference that the church will slow the announcement of new temples.

Born in Bordeaux, France, Caussé becomes the third European in the Quorum of the Twelve. Before his selection, he was a presiding bishop who worked to increase the church's annual charitable giving and humanitarian aid.

Under Nelson, the church injected some diversity into the previously all-white leadership panel by selecting the first Latin American apostle and the first apostle of Asian ancestry. The faith, headquartered in Utah, has more than half its 17.5 million members living outside the United States.

The apostles tend to be older men who have achieved success in occupations outside the church. Caussé was the general manager of Pomona, a food distribution company in France. The last three chosen for 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.