Black people and temple and priesthood policies in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

From 1852 to 1978, temple and priesthood policies in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) prohibited both Black women and Black men from temple ordinances and ordination in the all-male priesthood. In 1978, the church's highest governing body, the First Presidency, declared in the statement "Official Declaration 2" that the restriction had been lifted. Between 1830 and 1852, a few Black men had been ordained to the Mormon priesthood in the Latter Day Saint movement under Joseph Smith.

As part of this restriction, both Black men and women of African descent at various times were prohibited from taking part in ceremonies in the church's temples (e.g. endowments and marriage sealings), serving in certain leadership callings, attending priesthood meetings, and speaking at firesides. Spouses of Black people of African descent were also prohibited from entering the temple. Over time, the restriction was relaxed so that dark-skinned people of non-African descent could attend priesthood meetings and people with a "questionable lineage" were given the priesthood, such as Fijians, Indigenous Australians, and Egyptians, as well as Brazilians and South Africans with an unknown heritage who did not appear to have any Black heritage.

During this time, leaders in Mormonism's largest denomination—the LDS Church—taught that the restriction came from God and many leaders gave several race-based explanations for the ban, including a curse on Cain and his descendants, Ham's marriage to Egyptus, a curse on the descendants of Canaan, and that Black people were less valiant in their pre-mortal life. Top church leaders (called general authorities) used LDS scriptures to justify their explanations, including the Book of Abraham, which teaches that the descendants of Canaan were Black and Pharaoh could not have the priesthood because he was a descendant of Canaan. In 1978, it was declared that the restriction was lifted as a result of a revelation given to the church president and apostles. The 1978 declaration was incorporated into the Doctrine and Covenants, a book of Latter-day Saint scripture.

In December 2013, the LDS Church published an essay approved by the First Presidency which gave context to the restriction. In it, the church disavowed most race-based explanations for the past priesthood restriction and denounced racism.^[1]

A 2016 survey of self-identified Latter-day Saints revealed that over 60 percent of respondents either "know" or "believe" that the priesthood/temple ban was God's will.^[2] A 2023 survey of over 1,000 former church members in the Mormon corridor found race issues in the church to be one of the top three reported reasons why they had disaffiliated.^[3]