Utah braces for thousands who want to attend Mormon leader's funeral

The Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY — Funeral services for Mormon church president Gordon B. Hinckley this week could draw tens of thousands, a logistical challenge for officials looking to accommodate a White House candidate, countless other dignitaries and legions of the faithful.

The church's estimates for the two days of public viewing followed by Saturday's funeral range from 50,000 to 160,000.

"It will be a large crowd, but nothing more than we've handled before," said Doug Balls, who manages facilities at the church's gleaming downtown campus.

Mormons are an orderly bunch accustomed to large events. Twice a year, more than 100,000 of them stream in and out of the 21,000-seat conference center without a hitch during the semiannual two-day church meetings.

The services for Hinckley, however, involve the wrinkle of security and seating for White House hopeful Mitt Romney, the Mormon governor of Massachusetts whose candidacy has dramatically elevated interest in the Salt Lake City-based church. If Romney attends as planned, he'll have national media and security in tow.

There's a lot of stress in the planning — "and people are still dealing with their personal grief," church spokesman Bruce Olsen said.

Hinckley's death Sunday at 97 comes as membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the highest in history, with 13 million worldwide who consider the head of the church a prophet.

The funeral itself should last just over an hour and will include remarks from church leaders, family and music by the renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Olsen said.

As with the twice-yearly church meetings, Hinckley's funeral will be broadcast in 69 languages to 6,000 Mormon buildings worldwide, using a cadre of live translators.