In October 1995 at the General Relief Society meeting of LDS General Conference, then President Gordon B. Hinckley presented “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” It was the 5th of 6 proclamations–we now have 7. the most recent being the Proclamation on the Restoration in 2020. Church communications come in a variety of modes. Official Declarations as we talked about on out last podcast, are faced inwardly and dictate a significant shift in church doctrine or policy. They are then accepted by the body of the church by the law of common consent. The first proclamation in 1841 was given to the Saints scattered abroad–but in contrast since then proclamations have been generally oriented outwards toward the rest of the world.
President Hinckley considered the proclamation a “reaffirmation of standards, doctrines, and practices relative to the family.” While not canonized as scripture, the proclamation holds an important place in Latter-day Saint thought, practice, and belief.
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