Mark Edward Petersen (November 7, 1900 – January 11, 1984) was an American news editor and religious leader. He was born in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

. He served as a member of the

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles A quorum is the minimum number of members of a group necessary to constitute the group at a meeting. In a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature), a quorum is necessary to conduct the business of ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church) from 1944 until his death. He became managing editor of the church-owned ''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is a multi-platform newspaper based in Salt Lake City, published by Deseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS ...

'' in 1935 and then editor in 1941. He filled the vacancy in the Quorum caused by the

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in Koinonia, communion with other members o ...

Richard R. Lyman Richard Roswell Lyman (November 23, 1870 – December 31, 1963) was an American engineer and religious leader who was an apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1918 to 1943. Lyman is often noted as the most ...

Early life

As a young boy, Petersen was a newspaper carrier, and he also helped in his father’s construction business. Later, he attended the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

and served a

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

for the LDS Church in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. In pursuing a career, he became a reporter for the ''Deseret News'' and continued working for the paper for sixty years, advancing to the position of president and chairman of the board. Petersen wrote numerous editorials and published more than forty books and many pamphlets used in the church's missionary effort. His wife was Emma Marr McDonald Petersen (1893 - 1975).

LDS Church service

In April 1944, while serving as general manager of the ''Deseret News'', Petersen was called to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In his calling as an

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

, he directed the church’s public information programs and served on the Military Relations Committee. He was an adviser to the church's

Relief Society The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It was founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, United States, and has more than 7 million members in over 1 ...

, Indian Affairs Committee, and Music Committee. He served as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the

West European Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

Mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

for more than six years. Petersen was also involved in many community affairs. He was closely associated with the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

and was a recipient of the

Silver Antelope Award The Silver Antelope Award is a distinguished service award presented by Scouting America for outstanding service to young people within one of the organization’s divisions. Since 2022 award has been presented for service to a Council Service T ...

. In 1959, in response to a rash of arrests of

gay men Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual men, bisexual and homoromantic men may dually identify as ''gay'' and a number of gay men also identify as ''queer''. Historic terminology for gay men has included ''Sexual inversion (sexology), in ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

, church president David O. McKay assigned apostles Spencer W. Kimball and Petersen to work on curing gays within the church.

Controversial teachings

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

on 27 August 1954, at the Convention of Teachers of Religion on the College Level, Petersen delivered the speech, "Race Problems—As They Affect the Church". The speech outlined the religious underpinnings of

racial segregation Racial segregation is the separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, ...

and supported its continued practice as it related to intermarriage between blacks and whites. Particularly, he reaffirmed the LDS Church's teaching at that time that those with dark skin had been less valiant in their lives before coming to earth. He also reiterated the idea that blacks were to be servants to righteous white people after the resurrection. Petersen said:

In spite of all he did in the pre-existent life, the Lord is willing, if the Negro accepts the gospel with real, sincere faith, and is really converted, to give him the blessings of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. If that Negro is faithful all his days, he can and will enter the
celestial kingdom In the theology and cosmology of Mormonism, in heaven there are three degrees of glory (alternatively, kingdoms of glory) which are the ultimate, eternal dwelling places for nearly all who have lived on earth after they are resurrected from th ...
. He will go there as a servant, but he will get a celestial resurrection. He will get a place in the celestial glory.

In the 1940s, Petersen coined the term "

Mormon fundamentalist Mormon fundamentalism (also called fundamentalist Mormonism) is a belief in the validity of selected fundamental aspects of Mormonism as taught and practiced in the nineteenth century, particularly during the administrations of Joseph Smith, Br ...

" to describe people who had left the LDS Church to practice

plural marriage Polygamy (called plural marriage by Latter-day Saints in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more ...

Death

Petersen died from longstanding complications of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

after entering Cottonwood Hospital in

Murray, Utah Murray () is a city situated on the Wasatch Front in the core of Salt Lake Valley in the U.S. state of Utah. Named for territorial governor Eli Murray, the city had a population of 50,637 as of the 2020 United States Census. Murray shares borde ...

, and undergoing surgery. He was buried at

Salt Lake City Cemetery The Salt Lake City Cemetery is a cemetery in northeastern Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, that is one of the largest city-operated cemeteries in the United States. Description The cemetery is located north of 4th Avenue and east of N Street ...

. Image:MarkEPetersenGrave.jpg, Grave marker of Mark E. Petersen Image:MarkEPetersenGrave2.jpg, Grave markers of Mark E. Petersen and Emma Marr Petersen

Publications

*------ (1953). ''Your Faith and You''. Salt Lake City, Utah:

Bookcraft Bookcraft was a major publisher of books and products for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). History In 1940, LDS Church president Heber J. Grant asked the church's ''Improvement Era'' magazine to compile ...

. *------ (1953). ''An apostle speaks to youth about... The Sacredness of Sex - Chastity in Its Holy Mission''. Provo, Utah:

. * * *------ (1959). ''Teen Dating and Marriage''. Salt Lake City, Utah:

Deseret Book Deseret Book () is an American publishing company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, that also operates a chain of bookstores throughout the western United States. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation (DMC), th ...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

General Authorities and General Officers: Elder Mark E. Petersen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petersen, Mark E. 1900 births 1984 deaths American general authorities (LDS Church) American Latter Day Saint writers Deaths from cancer in Utah Editors of Latter Day Saint publications Mission presidents (LDS Church) American Mormon missionaries in Canada American anti-communists American segregationists Mormon missionaries in Europe Writers from Salt Lake City University of Utah alumni 20th-century Mormon missionaries Deseret News people Apostles (LDS Church) Burials at Salt Lake City Cemetery 20th-century American non-fiction writers Latter Day Saints from Utah