From Deseret News archives:

Sharpton and LDS leaders plan all-day get-together

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2007 12:07 a.m. MDT
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The Rev. Al Sharpton will meet with LDS Church officials during an all-day visit Monday.

Scott Trotter, spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said that the exact details of the meeting are still being worked out, including who will participate. He could not confirm whether church President Gordon B. Hinckley would meet with Sharpton but did say the visit would include high church officials.

"It will be meetings with the general authority level," he said.

The visit will also include tours of church grounds and Temple Square, Trotter said. That is at least partially because of Sharpton's desire to learn more about the LDS Church.

There may be a news conference with local media in the afternoon, as well, but Trotter could not confirm that, and calls and e-mails to Sharpton's media office were not returned.

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Sharpton asked to visit LDS Church headquarters after he was criticized for remarks he made during a debate with atheist author Christopher Hitchen that appeared to disparage Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his Mormon faith. His comment that "as for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyway, so don't worry about that, that's a temporary situation" seemed to imply that Mormons do not believe in God.

After the debate, Sharpton, a Pentecostal minister and former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, said his comment was distorted for political purposes. He also apologized to "regular Mormons" and made a personal call to LDS Church officials to formally apologize.

Trotter said that the apology was all that was necessary, and that the meetings would not focus on the comment made during the debate. He reiterated the church's position that there is nothing more to discuss.

"We appreciated his phone call," Trotter said. "We now consider the matter closed."

While Sharpton did try to make nice with LDS Church officials and members, he did not back away from criticisms of Romney, who labeled Sharpton's remark as "extremely bigoted."

Instead, Sharpton asked Romney to explain his opinion on the LDS Church's views on blacks. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who also ran the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, has declined to meet with Sharpton to further discuss the issue.


E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com

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