Thirty-one Area Seventies, serving in locations worldwide, have been released by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The leadership change, effective Aug. 1, was announced Friday in a news release. The list of Area Seventies being released is found below.
Along with the releases, the church noted that Elder ‘Inoke F. Kupu, an Area Seventy from Tonga, died from cancer on Aug. 13 in Auckland, New Zealand. He was 63. Elder Kupu began his service in April 2019 in the Pacific Area in the Eighth Quorum of the Seventy.
The church announced 45 new Area Seventies from 23 countries in a leadership meeting prior to April 2022 general conference.
The church began announcing and sustaining Area Seventies in the leadership meeting rather than general conference in 2021.
What is an Area Seventy?
Area Seventies are local area authorities who serve in each of the church’s geographical areas around the world. They live at home and maintain their nonreligious vocations while serving for a designated number of years.
Area Seventies are ordained to the office of Seventy in the Melchizedek Priesthood, like General Authority Seventies, but are not considered general authorities as their authority is generally limited to the area where they serve. They serve under the direction of the Presidency of the Seventy and their respective area presidency. They meet with and teach local leaders, missionaries and members in local congregations.
The church has 12 quorums of the Seventy. The first two quorums are made up of General Authority Seventies and the third through the 12th consist of Area Seventies.
Which Area Seventies were released?
The names of the released Area Seventies are listed below by quorum.
Third Quorum of the Seventy (Africa Central, Africa South and Africa West Areas)
- Artur J. Miranda.
- Elie K. Monga.
- Anthony Quaisie.
Fourth Quorum of the Seventy (Asia and Asia North Areas)
- Ting Tsung Chang.
- Yutaka Nagatomo.
Fifth Quorum of the Seventy (Brazil Area)
- Luciano Cascardi.
- José L. Del Guerso.
- Carlos R. Fusco Jr.
Sixth Quorum of the Seventy (Caribbean, Central America and Mexico Areas)
- Luis R. Arbizú.
- Pablo H. Chavez.
- Jorge A. García.
- Sandino Roman.
- Johnny F. Ruiz.
Seventh Quorum of the Seventy (Europe, Europe East, Europe North and Middle East/Africa North Areas)
- Alessandro Dini Ciacci.
- Karl D. Hirst.
- K. Roy Tunnicliffe.
Eighth Quorum of the Seventy (Pacific and Philippines Areas)
- Paul N. Lekias.
Ninth Quorum of the Seventy (South America Northwest and South America South Areas)
- David A. Benalcázar.
- Ariel E. Chaparro (effective Oct. 1, 2022).
- A. Fabio Moscoso.
- Juan C. Pozo.
- Martin C. Rios.
- Rosendo Santos.
Tenth Quorum of the Seventy (North America Central, North America Northeast and North America Southeast Areas)
- Michael V. Beheshti.
- Kevin E. Calderwood.
- Gordon H. Smith.
Eleventh Quorum of the Seventy (North America Southwest and North America West Areas)
- Gary F. Gessel.
- Ren S. Johnson.
- Jay B. Jones.
Twelfth Quorum of the Seventy (Utah Area)
- Berne S. Broadbent.
- Raymond A. Cutler