Building a Temple in Rome

Artist’s rendering of the Rome Italy Temple.

Latter-day Saints consider participation in the sacred ordinances of the temple the pinnacle of their worship. For many years, Italian Saints traveled on chartered buses to the closest temple, near Bern, Switzerland, often at great personal expense. “Italian Week” was, one temple president reported, always among the best attended.

But Saints in Italy longed to have a temple in their homeland. During the Church’s general conference on October 4, 2008, Thomas S. Monson, President of the Church, announced plans to build a temple in Rome. Thousands of Church members in Italy, watching the satellite broadcast in their local meetinghouses, cheered, exchanged hugs, and rejoiced. “We all shouted,” reported Massimo De Feo, who was serving as president of the Rome Italy Stake. He described the reaction as what “you might expect to see in a sports arena during a last-second win.” The Rome Italy Temple was dedicated in March 2019.

The announcement of the temple was one of several indications of the increasingly firm foundation of the Church in Italy. In 2012, the Church was granted an intesa. This agreement with the Italian government grants the Church protections under the Italian constitution, including freedom to pursue its worldwide mission and recognition of Church leaders as clergy.