President Dieter F. Uchtdorf is the new acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the First Presidency announced Thursday in a statement published on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
President Uchtdorf, 85, received the official appointment and was set apart by church President Dallin H. Oaks, according to the statement from President Oaks and his counselors, President Henry B. Eyring and President D. Todd Christofferson.
His call fills the leadership vacancy created by the death of President Jeffrey R. Holland on Dec. 27; a new apostle for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints remains to be called.
How an ‘acting president’ is determined
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is led by prophets and apostles, who after being sustained and set apart, serve for life as “special witnesses” of the name of Christ with additional administrative responsibilities in overseeing the operation and development of a global church.
Three apostles — including the church president — make up the First Presidency, while 12 more make up the Quorum of the Twelve.
Currently, President Oaks — the most-senior apostle by service time — leads the church as its prophet and president, with President Eyring and President Christofferson as his counselors in the First Presidency.
President Eyring, the second most-senior apostle, is the president of the Quorum of the Twelve. But because he is serving as a counselor in the First Presidency, President Uchtdorf has been called to serve as the quorum’s “acting president.”
President Uchtdorf’s call follows church practice in appointing an acting president when the quorum’s senior member is serving in the First Presidency, and it makes President Uchtdorf the eighth official acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve since the church’s founding in 1830.
As acting president of the quorum, President Uchtdorf will be tasked with conducting weekly quorum meetings and acting as liaison with the First Presidency and Presidency of the Seventy. He will also be tasked with assigning the quorum’s 11 other apostles to travel the world to preach the gospel, represent the church, oversee area presidencies, and organize and reorganize stakes.
President Uchtdorf’s church service
A former fighter pilot who earned his wings in both the German and U.S. air forces in Texas and Arizona, President Uchtdorf has served as a church general authority since April 1994 and was called to the apostleship in October 2004.
From 2008 to 2018, President Uchtdorf’s ministry included serving in the First Presidency, as second counselor to the late church President Thomas S. Monson. Previous to his call to the apostleship, President Uchtdorf’s general authority service included serving in the Presidency of the Seventy, as well as in the first and second quorums of the Seventy.
With “tender feelings of gratitude for all who have influenced my life in past years, I commit myself to the future,” President Uchtdorf said in 2004, speaking to church members the day after he was sustained as a lifelong apostle.
“My heart and mind are filled with joy that for the rest of my life I will have the opportunity to talk of Christ, rejoice in Christ, preach of Christ and prophesy of Christ — all this as a special witness of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.”
Throughout his more than two decades as an apostle, President Uchtdorf has diligently testified of Christ, many times encouraging individuals to discover their divine potential and the love of Jesus Christ. Pulling from his career and personal experiences, President Uchtdorf has also often used stories and analogies having to do with aviation in his general conference addresses.
In one address he delivered several years ago, President Uchtdorf even acknowledged this trend of his, joking: “At this point some of you may be thinking, ‘That’s all very fine and good, but what does it have to do with flying an airplane?’ Well, let me tell you.”
President Uchtdorf then proceeded to draw an aviation-related analogy to teach individuals how they may refocus their spiritual lives on “what matters most.”
“My dear brothers and sisters, we would do well to slow down a little, proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes and truly see the things that matter most,” he said then.
Trusting in God
Born Nov. 6, 1940, in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, President Uchtdorf and his family first joined the church in Zwickau, Germany, in 1947.
Throughout his childhood, President Uchtdorf and his family became refugees twice due to the dangers posed by World War II and the Cold War. Living in Frankfurt after his family’s second escape in 1952, President Uchtdorf was able to study mechanical engineering. His studies eventually pointed him to a career in aviation, in which he served for six years as a fighter pilot for the German Air Force (beginning in 1959), and worked as a commercial pilot and executive for Lufthansa German Airlines (from 1965 to 1995).
“When I was your age, I had no idea where my life would take me,” President Uchtdorf told young adults at a churchwide devotional in February 2025. “I definitely didn’t see any dots connecting in front of me. But I did trust God.”
Among the blessings President Uchtdorf has said have come from trusting in God are his wife and family. President Uchtdorf and his wife, Harriet Reich, married in 1962 and were sealed in the Bern Switzerland Temple. They are the parents of two children.
What President Uchtdorf taught at the latest general conference
President Uchtdorf opened his October 2025 general conference address with yet another aviation-related story that involved him flying a 747 simulator at his old workplace in 2024.
“When I was in my prime, flying had become almost second nature,” the apostle said. “Now it took all my concentration to do the basic things.”
Using this experience, President Uchtdorf taught that discipleship — like aviation or any other skill — requires constant self-discipline to master.
Discipleship “is not a casual endeavor, and it doesn’t happen by accident,” President Uchtdorf said. “Faith in Jesus Christ is a gift, but receiving it is a conscious choice that requires a commitment of all our might, mind and strength.”
In his talk, President Uchtdorf also spoke of the spiritual gifts given to each individual by the Spirit of God. He taught these gifts may not always be “flashy,” but that they are important in the Lord’s work.
“So, let us each do our little part,” President Uchtdorf said, later adding that “if we place our hope and faith in (the Savior), our victory is assured.”
The Savior “promises us access to his strength, his power, his abundant grace,” he said. “Step by step, little by little, we will grow ever closer to that great and perfect day when we will live with him and our loved ones in eternal glory.”
To find the dozens of general conference addresses President Uchtdorf has delivered since 1994, click here. And to find a compilation of quotes from President Uchtdorf in the past year, click here.