Bishop Gérald Caussé

First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric

From his childhood, Bishop Gérald Jean Caussé, recently called as the First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, always found happiness in Church service. That was a good thing, he said, because in his small branch in Bordeaux, France, everyone was needed to keep the unit running. In addition to serving in Aaronic Priesthood quorums throughout his youth, he served as the Primary pianist at age 12, as a counselor in the Sunday School presidency at age 14, and as the Sunday School president at age 16.

“Serving in the Church helped me get my testimony,” he said. His father, who served several times as branch president and bishop, was particularly instrumental in Bishop Caussé having a positive experience.

“When I was a teenager, he would involve me in doing home teaching or visiting families in need,” Bishop Caussé said. “Watching him was probably the best learning experience in preparing for priesthood leadership.”

Later, Bishop Caussé served as ward clerk, elders quorum president, high priests group leader, bishop’s counselor, stake president’s counselor, stake president, Area Seventy, and most recently as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy.

Bishop Caussé was born in Bordeaux, France, in May 1963, to Jean and Marie-Blanche Caussé. He served in the French Air Force for a year as a young man, where he was assigned to a NATO agency.

He earned a master’s degree in business from ESSEC in 1987. He began his career in strategy consulting, where he spent six years working for a consulting firm’s Paris and London offices. He later worked for a major retail group in Europe, and just prior to his call to the First Quorum of the Seventy in 2008, he was working as the general manager and a member of the board for France’s largest food distributor.

He and Valérie Lucienne Babin were married in August 1986 in the Bern Switzerland Temple. They have five children.