SALT LAKE CITY — For the first time, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will offer the male-only priesthood session of the upcoming general conference over live broadcast television and in real time over the Internet.

In a pre-conference press release issued Tuesday morning, church officials indicated the priesthood session of its 183rd Semiannual General Conference on Oct. 5 will be broadcast live on BYUtv and two online resources, LDS.org and the Mormon Channel. According to the press release, the church has chosen to do so "as part of a continued effort to make general conference proceedings more accessible to members around the globe."

Until now, the priesthood session has only been broadcast live to LDS meetinghouses via the church's extensive satellite system. To see it live, men and boys have had to travel to meetinghouses equipped with satellite dishes or attend the session in the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City.

The new procedure mirrors the pattern used for the live broadcast of LDS general Relief Society and Young Women meetings, which are held one week before general conference in the fall and spring, respectively.

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