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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Church President Gordon B. Hinckley urged priesthood holders -- most male members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- to honor women, live clean lives and not get tattoos.
Hinckley spoke Sunday night at a program of marking the 175th anniversary of what Mormons believe was the restoration of the priesthood. They believe that in May 1829, church founder Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the priesthood near Harmony, Pa., from a resurrected John the Baptist.
"This authority can only be exercised in righteousness," Hinckley said.
He urged priesthood holders to keep the Word of Wisdom, which prohibits consumption of alcohol, coffee, tea and illicit drugs.
"They will rob you of self-mastery," he said.
Hinckley also spoke against pornography, which he termed an evil and addictive vice, and also denounced tattoos.
"If you have ever considered such an idea, pause and ask the Lord about it," he said, adding that the human body is a temple of God. "How can any boy who blesses or passes the sacrament have a tattoo?"
He also said to honor women, not have sex outside of marriage and have no tolerance for domestic abuse.
He said a sense of humility and not arrogance also comes with the priesthood.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
