A Mormon St. Peter’s in Rome

A new Latter-day Saints temple looms large on the Roman horizon, and the Vatican’s prelates, truth to tell, are not too enthusiastic about what they see.

ROME, Italy — On the outskirts of Rome along the ancient Catholic pilgrim route known as the Via Francigena and not far from a giant shopping center featuring a massive IKEA and the French do-it-yourself Mecca called Leroy Merlin, cranes are hoisting giant spires onto the top of a Baroque-revival-style church. But unlike most of the religious edifices erected in Catholic Rome, this Roman temple is being built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) of Italy to accommodate a congregation that has grown from 9,000 to nearly 30,000 followers in less than 30 years.

The Rome Temple Complex of the LDS sits on 15 acres and will feature lush gardens, and a 40,000-square-foot temple with floor and ceiling designs to mimic Michelangelo’s Capitoline Hill plaza overlooking the Roman forum. Marble from Italy, Spain, Turkey, and Brazil is being used to decorate the interior and exterior spaces. The grounds will also include a stake center meeting house (a stake being roughly similar to a Catholic diocese), a visitor center, a family history library and a special Mormon-only hotel for workers and worshippers.

The temple, which is expected to be inaugurated sometime next year, is the 12th temple built in Europe and the first ever in Italy, and it is one of 15 new temples currently being built worldwide by the growing Mormon church. Organizers say that while it is under construction the Roman temple will be open briefly to the public for guided tours to help encourage understanding, then it will be closed to all but church members except under special circumstances.

The temple is serving a demand by Italian Mormons, according to local Rome Stake President Massimo De Feo, who says worshippers currently travel to the nearest temple in Bern, Switzerland, if they wish to do temple work which is an integral component of Mormon worship. The cost of the temple is a tightly held secret. “We have paid for it out of our pocket, with no help from Italy,” LDS Rome spokesman Alessandro Dini Ciacci says. “We don’t divulge the specific costs of our operations.”

Italy has 103 Latter-day Saints congregations under 10 stakes, divided into missions based in Milan and Rome, with the highest concentration in the north of Italy, where 53 percent of Mormons live, compared to 29 percent in southern Italy and 18 percent in the central regions. Sicily alone has 3,052 members of the church; the region around Rome has 2,117, according to the LDS Italy archives. There are more female Mormons (53 percent) than men (47 percent) in the country. According to De Feo, the Italy church has seen a surge in requests for baptisms for the living and the dead, and for celestial marriage ceremonies and family sealing ceremonies which officially bind couples or families together for eternity once the temple is ready. He also predicts that many Italians who have moved away because of inadequate ways to practice their faith will move back now that there is a temple in Italy. “This new Mormon center, the largest in Europe, will certainly be a problem.”

The growth of the LDS church in Italy may be moving fast, but not without opposition. Shortly after the first Mormons were baptized in Italy in 1850, the Catholic Church demanded that members of the congregation emigrate to Salt Lake City. The Italian government refused to allow the LDS church to formally gather until 1951. By 1964, there were just 230 members who were allowed to do missionary work in the country, and it took until July 30, 2012, for Italy’s government to finally legally recognize LDS as a religion in Italy and full “partner of the state.”

"According to Massimo De Feo, president of the Rome stake, the construction of the temple is nothing short of a miracle, not least of because of the way the project, which will be the largest in Europe, has raised eyebrows in Catholic circles.

“Certainly the Mormon Church is very rich and they have substantial resources that come from the United States,” said Cardinal Elio Sgreccia, emeritus president of the Pontifical Academy for Life and a close adviser to the last three popes, at a recent public forum on interreligious dialogue. “It is not a sin to have economic resources, but for an ecumenism, this new Mormon center, the largest in Europe, will certainly be a problem.”

“The good news is certainly the fact that the construction of this new temple has created new jobs, and this is a good that comes from their wealth,” said Sgreccia. “As for ecumenism, dialogue and the search for unity among all Christians, their presence in Rome is not necessarily an uplifting factor. We shall wait and see.”

Mormons aren’t dangerous to the Catholic faith, says Monsignor Enrico Feroci, head of Rome’s Caritas. “Everyone has the right to make their own choices of faith and take the necessary measures, from building their headquarters to professsing their faith,” he says. “But for Catholics, this does not mean renouncing its principles and pillars upon which rests the 2,000 years from their faith in Christ, Son of God, who died and rose again for the salvation of humanity. I have a lot of respect for Mormons in Rome, but they certainly do not share the Gospel with us because their concepts and the way they operate in society differ so greatly to Catholics.”

The Mormon religion is the 10th-largest in Italy after Catholicism, well behind Islam (the fourth after Catholicism) and Judaism (the sixth-largest), but it is the fastest growing, and the construction of the new house of worship will surely draw many whose faith guides them to live close to a temple. “This is a day of thanksgiving,” De Feo said when Thomas S. Monson, the head of the universal church, broke ground in Rome in 2010. “I think this is the most beautiful temple in the world.”

Baptisms for the dead are "dead" works...they are unBiblical. A corruption of faith through a deliberate misinterpretation of 1 Corinthians 15:29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?

"Also, why did you interpret a clear statement that says if one neglects temple work, their salvation is at risk to mean that those who don’t do it ALL will lose their salvation. Looks like a very narrow interpretation or even a straw man argument."

It's a question directed towards any Mormon who performs the temple rituals...are ALL of your (Rad_J) ancestors accounted for?

Have you been able to succeed in "baptizing" ALL of them in order to "ensure" they have a 2nd chance, and in doing so ensuring your own salvation, even though it clearly contradicts Hebrews 9:27?

Please cite a Biblical source for the temple rituals as currently performed in LDS temples.

Biblical source where baptismal fonts were a part of and function of OT temples.

Biblical source where it is stated that families can be "together forever", in contradiction of Mark 12:25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.

But, that doesn’t mean we get to ignore his commandments

What exactly are these "commandments" you are referring to? Do they have to do with your underwear? Your partaking of wine or coffee, The commandments listed in D and C Section 132.

"1–6, Exaltation is gained through the new and everlasting covenant; 7–14, The terms and conditions of that covenant are set forth; 15–20, Celestial marriage and a continuation of the family unit enable men to become gods; 21–25, The strait and narrow way leads to eternal lives; 26–27, The law is given relative to blasphemy against the Holy Ghost; 28–39, Promises of eternal increase and exaltation are made to prophets and Saints in all ages; 40–47, Joseph Smith is given the power to bind and seal on earth and in heaven; 48–50, The Lord seals upon him his exaltation; 51–57, Emma Smith is counseled to be faithful and true; 58–66, Laws governing plural marriage are set forth.

When I started seeing a Pastor at the local Grace Chapel...he didn’t have a good grasp of the influence and impact of mormon teachings and doctrine...this made it difficult for him to help me and it made it harder for me to grasp some of the more common and simple concepts of Christianity...you know, like the Trinity ;^).

But seriously, I had a lot of mormon doctrine baggage to unload...so we started with the basics...I had to work to erase what I had been taught over the years and work to learn new concepts and doctrine all over...it’s not over by a long shot...I am still on a pretty wide road vs. a narrow path...

Based on my experiences, I don’t know that Evangelical churches are prepared or in some cases, willing to create outreach programs for ex-mormons and for those mormons who may be seeking counsel and a way out...

An Open Letter to Mormons who are
sincere and serious about their faith...

(but slightly troubled and embarrassed by posts

that raise problems with mormon teachings and

beliefs that cannot be answered)

If you peruse the Free Republic religion forums
you will notice a pattern. There’s a group of
Christians who spend a great deal of time posting
from Official Mormon Sources - both the Book of
Mormon as well as Mormon Prophets and Church
materials - real quotes from real mormon materials.

You will also notice that many of these Christians
are former Mormons who left Mormonism and came to
know the Biblical Jesus Christ and His Gospel of Grace

- apart from the treadmill of human works.

They have a passion to share what they learned with

other Mormons.

Of course, they are attacked regularly by a very,
small group of Mormons on FR who have zeal, but no real
knowledge beyond what the Mormon Church has told
them.

Why can't these so-called "defenders" provide any:

… Objective Facts
… Objective Evidence
… Or Logical support

Anything OBJECTIVE that any reasonable person would
see and agree that it lends support the claims of
Mormonism.

God is a God of real history. He wove the strands of

human DNA, His Book, the Bible is rooted and grounded

in real places on real maps and is verified through

archeology, geography, history and genetics.

If Mormonism is true, why is it based only on subjective
feelings and why doesn't it have the same kind of objective
support the Bible does?

Has God changed?

Is He no longer in control of the world?

If they could support the claims of Mormonism with facts,
you know they would. But it never happens. I've even heard

these "defenders" say God hid all evidence to make our

faith greater. Has the God of the universe now become

the Cosmic Easter Bunny? Or is He unchangeable, like the

Bible teaches?

*** Why would God provide every kind of objective support
for the Bible's rich history and none for the Book of
Mormon? ***

These "defenders" post links over and over again that
“address” things yet never provide an answer that is
buttressed by the ring of truth, echoed by history,
archeology, genetics, geography, etc.

You deserve more than feelings and non-answers.

After reading both sides on this thread and others,
you may very well be wondering about what you were
taught when you joined the LDS church. You also may
be wondering how to resolve the tension of a faith

that is based entirely on subjective claims, yet

wants to claim the same God who has commanded you

to love Him with "all your mind."

You are not alone in this journey.

Many have approached us who are Christians asking where

to find out more and some, even, to ask how to come to

know the Biblical Christ and some even how to gracefully

leave Mormonism and start a new life with Christ.

Many here have already set out to finally and joyfully know
the true God and Savior. They understand the terrible choice
of being totally sincere about your faith, but increasingly
concerned that it isn't everything you once believed and hoped for.

After coming to know the truth, they are on a path that gives them
the rest God promised to His children and the certainty of His
ultimate plan for them.

Here are some links to get you started in your quest to know
the Biblical Christ:

http://www.irr.org/mit/default.html
http://www.exmormonsforjesus.org/
http://4mormon.org/ex-mormon.php
http://www.exmormon.org/
http://www.mormoncurtain.com/

In the end though, links may raise more questions and concerns

and sometimes it helps to have someone who has already wrestled

with all these issues already.

I invite you to private FReep-mail any of the Christians
on this thread to ask questions about the concerns you have.

We always do our best to directly answer your questions with
facts, evidence and logical support.

Take a step. I also challenge you to not only pray about these issues,

but go the one step farther and examine them to see if they are

true quotes, true teachings of the LDS church. Are you intellectually

honest enough to do this, or are you satisfied with just feelings

and a lack of facts, evidence and logic? If you are not willing to

examine your faith, is it because of what you might learn? Or are you

indeed intellectually lazy?

What do you have to lose at this point? And you have much to

gain.

If something is true, it can withstand any question, no matter

how tough. If it is false, it is better to know while your life

is in front of you.

There is peace and rest waiting for you today. Take a step to

find it now.

All the Best,
ampu

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