Rome Italy Temple |
Below-grade utilities and foundation work underway; anticipated to be completed in 2014 (awaiting official announcement) |
Site: 14.8 acres.
Exterior Finish: Granite.
Total Floor Area: 40,000 square feet.
Groundbreaking and Site Dedication: 23 October 2010 by Thomas S. Monson
As of October 2011, excavation and some foundation work has been completed for the Rome Italy Temple and patron housing facility; excavation is also beginning for the new stake center and visitors' center. A beautiful stand of Roman Pines leading to the temple decorate the construction site. A grove of olive trees that once stood on site have been transplanted into special crates for preservation until they are reintegrated into the final landscaping.
President Thomas S. Monson presided over the groundbreaking ceremony for the Rome Italy Temple on Saturday, October 23, 2010. He was accompanied by Church officials including Elder William R. Walker, Executive Director of the Temple Department; Erich W. Kopischke, President of the Europe Area and his two counselors, Elder Gérald Caussé and Elder José A. Teixeira; Elder Alfredo L. Gessati, Area Seventy; President Massimo De Feo, Rome Italy Stake President; and President Raimondo Castellani, Bern Switzerland Temple President. Numerous government officials were also in attendance including Mr. Giuseppe Ciardi, vice mayor of Rome, and Senator Lucio Malan.
In his remarks, President Monson emphasized the unique and historic nature of the temple's construction, which has significance extending beyond the borders of Rome and Italy. He thanked the Saints for their faithfulness and commitment to follow the example of Jesus Christ, urging them to be good citizens. He said, we love, honor and obey the laws of the country, and we love, honor, and obey the laws of God.10
The Rome Italy Temple will be the centerpiece of a complex of religious and cultural buildings significant to the Church.
- Temple. A worship facility for the performance of sacred ordinances and religious instruction to strengthen Church members' relationships to God, family, and those around them.
- Stake Center (Meetinghouse). A chapel where members and visitors meet for Sunday worship services and midweek social activities.
- Visitors' Center. A reception building for the public that helps visitors understand the Church through a collection of exhibitions including a reproduction of Thorvaldsen's Christus statue.
- Family History Center. A family history library providing the public the use of facilities and equipment to conduct genealogical research free of charge.
- Accommodation Center. A lodging facility for temple workers and patrons who must travel long distances to Rome.
- Gardens. Meticulous landscaping surrounding the entire complex, creating a peaceful, contemplative environment where visitors may feel the joy and beauty of God's creations.
The Rome Italy Temple is being built on an elevated 15-acre site in northeast Rome near the Grande Raccordo Anulare, the circular road (beltway) that surrounds the city. The picturesque country site, once adorned by a charming villeta, sits on the outskirts of the city at a freeway interchange. The parcel is punctuated with Roman pines and an exquisite stand of olive trees.1
Although just a small section of the site was originally permitted for construction of the temple, recent zoning modifications allowed for the entire parcel of land to be used.2
Building sites in Rome must be examined for Roman ruins before construction is permitted. The inspection is carried out by digging trenches every 10 to 15 feet across the property. The day the temple property was to be inspected, Church members in Rome held a special fast. No ruins were found over the entire property, yet an old Roman village was discovered just 100 yards beyond the property boundary line. The Church purchased the property in the late 1990s.3
Italian members met the announcement of the Rome Italy Temple with the animated cheering and enthusiasm you might expect to see in a sports arena during a last-second win, explained President Massimo De Feo, president of the Rome Italy Stake, in an interview. He added that since the temple announcement, the Stake is seeing the baptism of full families for the first time. In just the past five years, the number of stakes in Italy has grown from three to six. And temple attendance at the distant Bern Switzerland Temple has been much higher from the Saints in Italy than from any other country in the temple district.4
In the Conference Center, President Thomas S. Monson's announcement of a temple to be constructed in Rome produced wide smiles and an audible gasp of surprise from the congregation during the Saturday morning session of the October 2008 General Conference.
The Rome Italy Temple will be the twelfth temple built in Europe and the first built in Italy and in the Mediterranean region.
A charming Italian villetta, which stood at the highest point of the temple site, was razed to make way for the Rome Italy Temple. The villetta served for a time as an apartment for the full-time missionaries.
The growth of the Church in Italy has not been without its opposition. Just three years after the Saints arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, the first missionaries arrived in Genova, Italy, on June 25, 1850, including Elder Lorenzo Snow, who would become the fifth president of the Church. Over the next three years, 221 people were baptized and organized into three branches. But most proselytizing in Italy stopped in the early 1860s in the face of local opposition and because of a request from Church leaders for Italian members to immigrate to Utah. An attempt to reopen missionary work in Italy in 1900 was refused by the government.
The Church was finally reestablished in Italy in 1951, following the conversion of Vincenzo di Francesca, who happened to find a burned copy of the Book of Mormon with a missing cover and title page. Italians who had joined the Church in other countries began to return to Italy during this period. They attended Church with LDS serviceman stationed in Italy in various branches. By the end of 1964, Church records showed 229 members in Italy. That same year, Elder Ezra Taft Benson, an apostle who would become the 13th president of the Church, petitioned the government for permission to resume missionary work. Permission was granted, and missionaries began to proselyte on January 27, 1965. By 1978, membership has grown to over 7,000 and increased to 14,000 by 1990. Today there are over 22,600 members organized into 6 stakes and 7 districts.5
Although missionary work had been allowed in Italy since 1964, the Church began in 2000 the lengthy process of seeking a concordat with the government that would grant it state-sponsored status. This status was granted to the Roman Catholic Church in a concordat signed by Mussolini—a relationship that was perpetuated into Italy's post-fascist constitution. Since 1984, however, the Catholic Church has had to share this level of government recognition with other religions operating in Italy. Approved churches become concordates, which receive tax funds and other rights from the government similar to those received by the Catholic Church.6
At a London fireside, Elder Kenneth Johnson of the First Quorum of the Seventy related events that have contributed to the Italian government's official recognition of the Church. In October 2006, he accompanied other high-ranking Church leaders, including Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, to a meeting in Rome to make a case for the Church to the government. President Uchtdorf noted the Church's longtime presence and reputation in Italy, but the presiding government official seemed unmoved. Instead, he related that he had traveled—without announcement—to Salt Lake City in preparation for the meeting. Two Italian sister missionaries had served as his guides on Temple Square. He noted the deep impression left on him by these two Italian citizens, and then inquired when the Church might build a temple in Rome. Once these papers are signed, Elder Uchtdorf replied. The officer signed. On April 4, 2007, Prime Minister Prodi gave his signature, and then it proceeded to Parliament.7
With legal recognition still stalled in Parliament in late 2009, the Church took the step of hiring a Washington, D.C., lobbyist to help push through the approval. A. Elizabeth Jones, a former high-level State Department employee and ambassador to Kazakhstan, who is now an executive vice president at APCO Worldwide, is lobbying the U.S. embassy in Italy to support the Church's application. The intesa—an Italian term referring to an "understanding" with the government—would carry certain privileges including facilitating the authorization of bishops to perform civilly recognized marriages and making the renewal of visas for missionaries easier.8
On May 13, 2010, the Italian Cabinet, or Council of Ministers, approved an intesa with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, granting the Church Italy's highest status given to religions. This action elevates the legal recognition of the Church from charitable foundation to official religion. Just a few more formalities remain before the intesa becomes law.9
Please follow this link to read official information for neighbors and communities of the Rome Mormon Temple (Italian). Click here to access the English version of the site.
1. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints News Release, "New Temple Site Locations Announced," 7 Oct. 2008.
2. President and Sister Pacini, "Fast for Temple," Facebook 28 Aug. 2009, 29 Oct. 2009 <http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=italy+rome+mission+pacini&init=quick#/topic.php?uid=61804627086&topic=9551>.
3. "Rome Italy Temple News," Online posting, 9 Nov. 2008 <http://acerson.com/temple.html>.
4. Massimo De Feo, "Massimo De Feo—Stake President in Rome, Italy," Mormon Channel: Into All the World 29 Apr. 2009, 13 Jun. 2009 <http://feeds.lds.org/~r/LDSIntoAllTheWorld/~3/tvvN_Rtc1k4/LDSRadio_IntoAllTheWorld__01__MassimoDeFeo__eng_.mp3>.
5. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints News Release, "First Temple Announced in Rome," 4 Oct. 2008.
6. Peggy Fletcher Stack, "LDS Church Wants to Be Official in Italy," The Salt Lake Tribune 9 Sept. 2000: A1.
7. John F., "Two LDS Senators in London," Online posting, 21 May 2007, 6 Oct. 2008 <http://www.mormonmentality.org/2007/05/21/two-lds-senators-in-london.htm>.
8. Carrie Levine, "For Italian Job, Mormons Ask a D.C. Insider for Help," The National Law Journal 6 Oct. 2009, 29 Oct. 2009 <http://www.law.com/jsp/law/international/LawArticleIntl.jsp?id=1202434304372>.
9. "Il Consiglio dei Ministri ha approvato l'intesa della Chiesa di Gesł Cristo," Chiesa di Gesł Cristo dei Santi degli Ultimi Giorni 13 May 2010, 27 May 2010 <http://www.chiesadigesucristo.it/news-e-media/visualizza-articolo/archive/2010/may/article/il-consiglio-dei-ministri-ha-approvato-lintesa-della-chiesa-di-gesu-cristo.html>.
10. "Il Presidente Monson Presiede la Cerimonia del Primo Colpo di Piccone del Primo Tempio in Italia," Chiesa di Gesł Cristo dei Santi degli Ultimi Giorni 23 Oct. 2010, 23 Oct. 2010 <http://www.chiesadigesucristo.it/news-e-media/visualizza-articolo/archive/2010/october/article/il-presidente-monson-presiede-la-cerimonia-del-primo-colpo-di-piccone-del-primo-tempio-in-italia.html>.
