Greek Orthodox and Mormon church leaders die

Two world religious leaders, the Greek Orthodox Church’s Archbishop Christodoulos, and Mormon president Gordon Hinckley, have died, it was announced today.

Archbishop Christodoulos, who eased centuries of tension with the Vatican, but angered liberal critics who viewed him as an attention-seeking reactionary, died today at his home from cancer, church officials said.

Regularly named in opinion polls as Greece’s most popular public figure, Archbishop Christodoulos, 69, headed the church for a decade and reached out to opponents during his illness.

He was first taken to hospital in Athens in June before being diagnosed with cancer of the liver and large intestine.

He spent 10 weeks in a hospital in Miami, Florida, but an October liver transplant operation was aborted when doctors discovered the cancer had spread.

He refused hospital treatment in the final weeks of his life.

Mr Hinckley, 97, was the 15th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its longest-serving president.

Since taking over as president and prophet of the church on March 12, 1995, Mr Hinckley oversaw one of the greatest periods of expansion in church history.

The number of temples worldwide more than doubled, from 49 to more than 120 and church membership grew from about nine million to more than 12 million.

Like his contemporary, Pope John Paul II, he became by far his church’s most travelled leader in history.

And the number of Mormons outside the US surpassed that of American Mormons for the first time since the church, the most successful faith born in the United States, was founded in 1830.

The church presidency is a lifetime position.