Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple
On 6 April 2013, during the Saturday morning session of the 183rd annual general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Thomas S. Monson announced that a new temple would be constructed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple will not be the first Latter-day Saint temple to be built in Brazil. The first temple built in the country was completed in São Paulo in 1978. The São Paulo Brazil Temple was the Church's first not only in Brazil but on the South American continent. Since then six more temples have been built and dedicated, bringing the total number of temples in operation in Brazil to seven. Other Brazilian temples are located in Campinas, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Recife, Manaus, and Fortaleza Brazil. The ground was broken in August 2019 for the Belém Brazil Temple. Construction has also begun for the Salvador Brazil Temple and the Brasília Brazil Temple. The Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple will be the eighth temple built in Brazil. Temples have also been announced Belo Horizonte, East São Paulo, and Vitória.
Brazil has a population of nearly 200 million people, including more than 1.4 million members of the Church, with 277 stakes, more than 2,000 congregations (1,593 wards and 445 branches), 35 missions, and 39 districts. Rio de Janeiro, the location of the 2016 Summer Olympics, is the second-largest city in Brazil and home to the famous Christ the Redeemer (Portuguese: Cristo Redentor) statue.
Church members in Rio currently travel approximately 300 miles (500 kilometers) to participate in temple ordinances at the Campinas Brazil Temple. The temple in Campinas serves members from nearly 100 stakes and districts spread across the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Distrito Federal, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, and the Tocantins.
A Facebook video captures the reaction of members in the Rio de Janeiro Andaraí Stake Center to the temple announcement.
Contents
- 1 Temple Site
- 2 Groundbreaking Ceremony
- 3 A First Look at the Rio de Janeiro Temple
- 4 Open House, Youth Devotional, and Dedication Dates Announced for Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple
- 5 Opening of the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple Postponed
- 6 New Open House and Dedication Dates Set
- 7 Open House Begins and Dedication Date Set for the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple
- 8 Videos of the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple
- 9 External Links
- 10 Temples in Brazil
Temple Site
The Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple and an adjoining meetinghouse will be constructed on the property next to a nature reserve on Avenida das Américas in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood. Barra is a beautiful development on the Atlantic Ocean that hosted most of the venues for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Groundbreaking Ceremony
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Saturday, 4 March 2017, for Brazil’s eighth announced temple, the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple.
Elder Claudio R. M. Costa of the Seventy and Brazil Area President presided at the ceremony. Elder W. Mark Bassett of the Seventy and Second Counselor in the Area Presidency participated. During his remarks, Elder Costa commented, "Today is a historic day for the Church in this city and in Brazil. Rio de Janeiro is a wonderful city, a city that welcomes all with open arms like the Christ Statue. I am grateful to live in a country that champions religious freedom. We love our brothers of other faiths and we participate with them in humanitarian projects. We have good friends here.”
The Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple will join the other sacred edifices in Campinas, Curitiba, São Paulo, Porto Alegre, Recife, and Fortaleza. The Belém Brazil Temple was announced last spring.
The Rio de Janeiro Temple is located at Avenida das Américas, #8547, in Barra da Tijuca.
A First Look at the Rio de Janeiro Temple
The pictures for the following gallery are from LDS Living and are ©2020 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
Open House, Youth Devotional, and Dedication Dates Announced for Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple
The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released the dates of the open house for the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple. The public is invited to tour the temple from Friday, 17 April 2020 through Saturday, 2 May 2020, except for the Sundays of 19 and 26 April 2020.
Latter-day Saint youth will gather in a nearby Church meetinghouse for a devotional the evening prior to the dedication on Saturday, 16 May 2020.
The Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple will be dedicated on Sunday, 17 May 2020, in three sessions, 9:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Both the devotional and dedication will be broadcast to meetinghouses within the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple district.
Opening of the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple Postponed
In response to government guidelines that seek to limit the spread of COVID-19, the public open house and dedication of the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple have been postponed until large public gatherings are deemed safe. Originally, the open house was to be held Friday, 17 April through Saturday, 2 May 2020. An announcement with the revised opening dates will be made later.
New Open House and Dedication Dates Set
Nearly 21 months after releasing a schedule for the open house and dedication of the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced a new open house and temple dedication schedule.
In a letter to Church leaders in the Brazil Area on Friday, 5 November 2021, the First Presidency identified the following events and dates from March through May 2022:
- Media day — Monday, 21 March 2022
- Invited guests — Tuesday, 22 March 2022, through Friday, 25 March 2022
- Public open house – Saturday, 26 March 2022, through Saturday, 16 April 2022, except 27 March, 2-3 April, and 10 April 10
- Youth devotional — Saturday, 7 May 2022
- Temple dedication — Sunday, 8 May 2022, three sessions at 9 a.m., noon, and 3 p.m.
Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will preside at the dedication. Additional details about the temple dedication will be announced at a future date.
The youth devotional and dedicatory sessions will be broadcast to all units in the Rio de Janeiro Brazil temple district.
Open House Begins and Dedication Date Set for the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple
The open house for the eighth completed temple in Brazil — the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple — has begun. The open house and dedication were initially planned for April to May 2020, but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Monday, 21 March 2022, the media was invited to tour the temple, and tours for invited guests are being conducted from Tuesday, 22 march 2022, through Friday, 25 March 2022. The public open house begins on Saturday, 26 March 2022, and goes through Saturday, 30 April, except March 27, April 2-3, 10, 17 and 24. On Saturday, 2 April 2022, and Sunday, 3 April 2022, the 192nd annual general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be held. See [templorj.org.br Visitação Pública do Templo do Rio de Janeiro] for information about attending the open house.
On Saturday, 7 May 2022, a youth devotional will be held. The temple will be dedicated in three sessions on Sunday, 8 May 2022. Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will preside at the dedication. Both the youth devotional and the temple dedication will be broadcast to the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple district.
Videos of the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple
External Links
Temples in Brazil
- Belém Brazil Temple
- Belo Horizonte Brazil Temple
- Brasília Brazil Temple
- Campinas Brazil Temple
- Curitiba Brazil Temple
- Florianópolis Brazil Temple
- Fortaleza Brazil Temple
- Goiânia Brazil Temple
- João Pessoa Brazil Temple
- Londrina Brazil Temple
- Maceió Brazil Temple
- Manaus Brazil Temple
- Natal Brazil Temple
- Porto Alegre Brazil Temple
- Recife Brazil Temple
- Ribeirão Preto Brazil Temple
- Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple
- Salvador Brazil Temple
- São Paulo Brazil Temple
- São Paulo East Brazil Temple
- Santos Brazil Temple
- Teresina Brazil Temple
- Vitória Brazil Temple