It was the sixth proclamation in the history of the church.[3][4]
Although the proclamation presents no new doctrine, it provides an official statement on its views of the history and state of the church. After being available online, it was first published by the church in Liahona and Ensign.
^See Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1151, 1153, 1155, 1156, and archives for the 1980 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Proclamation 1: issued on January 15, 1841, by the First Presidency consisting of
Joseph Smith,
Sidney Rigdon and
Hyrum Smith. This proclamation “reviews the progress of the Church in spite of hardships and persecution, and speaks at length on the prospects of the settlement of Nauvoo.”
Proclamation 2: issued April 6 in New York and on October 22, 1845, by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (who were then serving as the governing of the church because a First Presidency had not yet been re-organized) and was "addressed to the rulers and people of all nations" and "was an announcement that God had spoken from the heavens and restored the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth."
Proclamation 3: issued October 21, 1865, by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the purpose of "correct[ing] certain theories about the nature of God that had been published by one of the Twelve in official Church literature, without having those statements cleared and verified by the First Presidency and the Twelve."
Proclamation 4: issued on April 6, 1980, by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the organization of the church. This proclamation was concerning the progress, doctrine, mission, and message of the church, and also mentioned in some detail about the family.