Some friends of other faiths may wonder why all the excitement over what will become the 12th temple of the Church in Europe—especially if some of the excitement comes from people who live on the other side of the earth.  True, a temple can be an indicator for the strength of the Church in any given area.  A temple in any given area is a symbol that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is well established.  But whether or not there is an extra amount of anticipation over a temple being constructed in Rome is beside the point. 

David Petersen, one of Becky’s friends, was also excited about the announcement.  He said, however, that “It is not just the temple in Rome that is significant, but every temple is significant.  We go to the temple to receive ordinances that help us return to our Heavenly Father.” 

Gordon B. Hinckley, former President of the Church, expounded further on the blessings of the temple when he said,

“Every man or woman who goes into the house of the Lord leaves there a better man or woman than he or she was when he or she entered the house of the Lord. The house of the Lord will have a refining effect upon you. It will cultivate unselfishness within your lives. It will build righteousness. It will impress upon you the importance of doing what you ought to do. Go to the house of the Lord.”

Temple worship makes a person better.  There is something about going there that lifts one up, helps one consider things of an eternal nature, and draws a person closer to God. 

John A. Widstoe said,

“The mighty perspective of eternity is unraveled before us in the holy temples; we see time from its infinite beginning to its endless end; and the drama of eternal life is unfolded before us.  Then I see more clearly my place amidst the things of the universe, my place among the purposes of God; I am better able to place myself where I belong, and I am better able to value and to weigh, to separate and to organize the common, ordinary duties of my life, so that the little things shall not oppress me or take away my vision of the greater things that God has given us” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1922, pp. 97-98).

What a wonderful blessing it is to have temples on the earth; what a wonderful blessing it will be for the Saints in Italy to have a temple so close.

The Rome Italy Temple is currently in the design and planning phases. No groundbreaking date has been announced.

INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT DE FEO:

If anyone would like to submit photos as the temple is in progress, we’d love to post them with a statement regarding your feelings about the upcoming House of the Lord in Rome, Italy. Please send to Karen at email@moregoodfoundation.org.

Prior to his calling to preside over Saints and friends of other faiths in the Rome area, President Acerson served as a counselor in the Lindon Stake Presidency (a stake is an area that includes multiple wards or congregations of believers).    While serving as counselor, without pay, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do, Jeff Acerson also worked as Mayor of the Lindon City.

President Acerson shared in one of his final meetings as counselor in Lindon, his impressions through the Spirit, that this sacred call was imminent.  Those feelings were ratified when the actual call from the leaders of the Church came to him and was extended in the presence of himself and his wife, Karen.

Karen has served in many capacities in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (”Mormon” church), including as counselor in the local women’s organization, or Relief Society, and as President over the young women of her stake.  Karen is originally from Moab, Utah.

Matt Durazzani served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Rome Italy mission from January 1999 to January of 2001. During his two-year service as a Mormon missionary–whose time is committed to teaching about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth–Matt (Elder Durazzani) was assigned to serve as Assistant to the Mission President.

Elder Durazzani, along with other elders who assisted the Mission President, actually lived in the very home that is situated on the highest part of the hill on the acquired land for the Rome, Italy temple! Four to six elders at a time, who were assisting in the Mormon Mission Office, stayed in that spacious home–with a rustic unfinished lower level, bunks on the next, and living quarters with a kitchen on the higher level.

Recently, Matt and I visited as he reflected on his time in that home and his missionary experiences, and the significance of living on the very land that will eventually be dedicated for the building of the Lord’s House in Rome.

Matt eagerly showed me a map of the Rome area online, zooming in to the city, then to the space where the designated land was defined. He described in detail the angles from which you could see the future temple land, the inclines, the home, the borders. This is a man who feels the fulfillment of prophecy that is taking place in the selection and preparation of this future Rome Temple site–which many deeply feel with him.

He recalled that the land, about 50% larger than that of Temple Square (where the Salt Lake Temple stands in Utah), sits overlooking many facets of Rome itself. He mentioned that it is not far from the the Grande Raccordo Anulare, and will be largely visible from a portion of that thoroughfare–and pointed out the range of visibility. Four to six million people are estimated to live within the scope of that beltway temple area. Apparently, the north side of the land is higher, and slopes in three directions.

While it is not far from the freeway, it “has its own space,” Matt says, and is a peaceful place. While he often left the home as a missionary on the acquired temple property in the dark and often returned to the home in the dark, he still remembers the feeling of peace associated with it. New missionaries entering Rome were brought to the site and given an opportunity to pray there as they dedicated their time and service for the subsequent eighteen months to two years to the Lord. Each knew that it was a prospective place for a church building or temple, but with no assurance that the temple would actually be erected on that spot. Graced with an olive grove, and the greens typical of the Mediterranean slopes, the land has its own beauty and lure.

“I remember, on New Year’s Eve,” Matt interjected, “we climbed on the roof and watch the fireworks display.” Several sets were visible from the Roman skyline atop the hill.

Matt and his wife, Rachel, were at home listening to General Conference, when the announcement came from Thomas S. Monson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (”Mormon” Church). He said he was overwhelmed with emotion and actually became very silent for almost an hour–pondering its implications of this sacred, long-awaited occurrence.

Then, his eyes moistening as we spoke, he shared a poignant spiritual moment. As he accompanied President Pacini, the Mission President who followed President Flosi, to the purchased site, he had a revelatory moment, which he describes:

We never wanted to assume or take it for granted that that purchased land was the actual location where a temple would be built. Other locations were possible, and we didn’t know what would transpire. Milan or Naples could have been potential sites, but this parcel in Rome was the only one that had been bought. I even thought perhaps there could be a stake center built on the purchased plot, but I remember when I went up there with President Pacini… I knew that was the land where one of the temples in Italy would be built. I didn’t know if it would be the first temple there or not, but one of them. So when I heard the announcement at Conference, I was hoping in a way that it was actually that land, and it is.

While Matt has tender feelings about living in the home on the land–noticeable, as well, as he pointed out to me the very room in which he slept-he now wonders what will be in the place of that room, and foresees the day when he can say–whether from the temple itself, a Visitor’s Center, or a stake center (meetinghouse for a number of Mormon congregations)–”I lived here and served in this areas before this became what it is now.”

“The temple will beautify Rome,” Matt remarked, and will be a boon to the area in every way. Not only will it bless the Mediterranean but also other regions like Eastern Europe and the Middle East and all those who will enter it, but it will bless the local Saints and help renew their faith that the Lord is at the helm and the gospel is moving forward in very deed in that part of His vineyard.

It is the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy and prayers of Lorenzo Snow (missionary to Italy, and former Mormon prophet) and President Benson who indicated that the people of Italy would become open to the fulness of the gospel, that the banner of truth would reach that land, and that visions and dreams would lead many to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

From the lifting up of this Ensign [the gospel of Jesus Christ], may a voice go forth among the people of these mountains and valleys, and throughout the length and breadth of this land; and may it go forth, and be unto thine elect as the Voice of the Lord, that the Holy Spirit may fall upon them, imparting knowledge in dreams and visions concerning this hour of their redemption. As the report of us, thy servants, shall spread abroad, may it awaken feelings of anxiety with the honest, to learn of thy doings, and to seek speedily the path of knowledge (Lorenzo Snow, Dedicatory Prayer, Italian Mission.)

Matt witnessed the gifts of the Spirit prophesied by Lorenzo Snow in the lives of those who embraced the gospel as he served in Italy.

Reminders of the prophesies of Italy’s growth were contained, symbolically, right on the acquired temple land: Sickles, widely used tools for harvesting grain and cutting the grass, were found in the old barn.  To the Latter-day Saint (Mormon), the sickle is especially symbolic as the Lord, in modern revelation (The Doctrine and Covenants) has called for his people to thrust in their sickles–to use their time, talent, and means to harvest “souls” and bring others to Him.  “The sickle,” Matt remarked, “became part of the logo of the Italian Mission; it became a constant reminder of the future purposes of this land, ‘white and ready to harvest’.”

Matt and his wife, Rachel, live in Provo, Utah. Matt is originally from Pordenone, about an hour or so from Venice. His mother was a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and joined before he was born. His father, in an attempt to disprove the Church’s validity, proved himself wrong instead, and also entered the waters of baptism when Matt was about 2 years old. Matt received his own testimony through prayer and a witness of the Spirit that he has never questioned since.

Apparently, to qualify for a building permit, the land must be free of any ancient Roman ruins. To check the land, the city officials actually dig trenches across the property in review–every 10 to 15 feet. This they would need to do for the 14.8 acres of land that had been previously purchased as a possible temple site in the 1990s. In the event that Roman ruins exist beneath or on the property site, plans for construction are nullified, and no permits are issued (President Acerson’s blog).

On the day that the city inspectors were to visit the property, members of The Church of Jesus Christ (Mormons) in Rome, held a special fast. This is a day in which members abstain from food and water, and petition for the Lord’s will to occur and His power to be manifest in the ways He chooses for the advancement of His kingdom and the leading of souls to Him.

City officials found no trace of any Roman ruins on the entire acreage of selected property. Only 100 yards from the border of that same property, however, they found the remnants of an old Roman village.

The Lord is involved in the details of each House of His, each holy temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the earth.

“In Rome, the temple will occupy part of a 15-acre Church-owned site near the ring road skirting the northeast section of Rome.” (LDS Newsroom).

Some additional unofficial information regarding the temple, shared by President Acerson, current Mission President, includes the following:

• The land is made up of 14.8 acres.
• On the deed it is written, “For a building with national significance.”
• The property was purchased during the time that President Flossi served as mission president (1996-1999).
• The land is situated just off the large beltway that surrounds Rome (the Grande Raccordo Anulare or GRA) near a large mall and is highly visible to motorists. (Acerson).

On Saturday morning in Utah (Saturday evening in Rome), our prophet, President Monson announced that five new temples would be built. As he started naming each temple, I thought in my mind, “Someday, a prophet will say, ‘Rome, Italy’.” I remember repeating it wishfully a couple of times in my mind as he named each one. When he got to the end of the list of temples and said, “Rome, Italy” I let out a small scream, buried my head in my hands, and cried. We all cried.

The assistant to the Mission President described what happened as the announcement was made in the local meetinghouse, or Stake Center, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons):

He said that when President Monson said, “Rome, Italy” in English, the person translating it into Italian paused and said, “What?” and then took a half second to let it sink in, then said, “Roma, Italia.” The congregation leapt to their feet, cheering and clapping. He said, “The women were crying, the men were hugging each other, and everyone was overwhelmed with surprise and joy.

Those responses paralleled those in the States.  Exultant cries, gasps, sighs, embraces, tears, all accompanied the announcement of this and the Cordoba, Philadelphia,  Kansas City and Alberta temples.

Rome Mission President, Jeffrey Acerson, was visibly moved by the news: “The Saints in Italy have waited a long time. We’re excited, we’re anxious and we’re very humbled by the decisionof  prophet of the Lord to move forward with a temple in Rome.” When he first heard the news, President Acerson commented:  “I felt like all the Saints here in Italy wanted to go into the streets to let everyone know a temple is coming,” he said.

There are currently more than 22,000 Mormons in Italy now, with the first Italian mission opened in August of 1850.

The temple opens the way for Saints in many areas to travel to Rome rather than to Bern, Switzerland in order to share in the blessings of eternal families, and to partake of the spiritual learning that the temple offers.

Other European temples include:

• Bern, Switzerland
• Copenhagen, Denmark
• Frankfurt, Germany
• Freiberg, Germany
• Helsinki, Finland
• Kiev, Ukraine
• London, England
• Madrid, Spain
• Preston, England
• Stockholm, Sweden
• The Hague, Netherlands

 

Temples are the Lord’s houses on the earth. In these dedicated buildings, anyone who has conformed to the commandments of the Lord or who is so striving to do, and who has been baptized by God’s ministers on the earth (priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), and who is twelve or older can enter and serve in a holy temple.  It is a place of peace and revelation, a place of service and of learning. Special ordinances, including baptisms, confirmations, and sealings of couples together forever, occurs in these edifices. They are not secret but sacred.  In these temples, as in temples of old, the children of God are reminded of the answers to life’s questions, the role of the Savior and His atonement in personal progression, and receive the ordinances necessary to continue relationships beyond this grave and extend the gospel to millions who have passed on without having had such an opportunity.