Jeffrey R. Holland, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints apostle who was next in line to become the church’s president, died Saturday in Salt Lake City at age 85, the church announced on its website. The church said Holland died early Saturday morning from complications associated with kidney disease.
Holland led the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a governing body that helps set church policy while overseeing the church’s many business interests. The church described him as the longest-tenured member of the Quorum of the Twelve after President Dallin H. Oaks, placing him next in line for the presidency under the faith’s succession plan.
Oaks, who became president in October, reflected on what he called more than 50 years of friendship and service with Holland. Oaks said Holland “lifted the weary, encouraged the faithful and bore a powerful witness of the Savior — even through seasons of significant personal trials,” a quote included in the church’s announcement.
Holland’s death also alters the line for the church’s top leadership team. Henry B. Eyring, who is 92 and one of Oaks’ two counselors, is now next in line to lead the church as president, according to the succession order described around Oaks’ October transition.
The church said Holland had been hospitalized during the Christmas holiday for ongoing health complications. It also pointed to his declining health in October, when Oaks did not select Holland as a counselor.
Holland grew up in St. George, Utah, and spent years working in education administration before being called into senior leadership. He served as the ninth president of Brigham Young University from 1980 to 1989 and later worked as a commissioner of the church’s global education system.
During his time with BYU, the university worked to improve interfaith relations and established a satellite campus in Jerusalem, the announcement said. The Anti-Defamation League later honored Holland with its “Torch of Liberty” award for helping foster greater understanding between Christian and Jewish communities.
In public remarks, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Holland had a profound impact on his faith. Cox said Holland’s “words had a way of penetrating my soul like no other,” and that during times of trial or darkness he would return to them “over and over again and feel the light and peace I needed.”
The church said Holland was preceded in death by his wife, Patricia Terry Holland, and that he is survived by three children, 13 grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren. Holland was also known for sermons that combined scholarship with what the announcement described as tenderness, including a 2013 talk in which he discussed supporting loved ones with depression and other mental illnesses.
Holland’s death leaves a vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve that Oaks will fill in coming months, the church said, describing the likely process as calling a new apostle from a lower-tier leadership council. Apostles are all men under the church’s all-male priesthood, according to language in the announcement carried by the report.