Cordoba Argentina Temple
The first members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Argentina were European immigrants who requested missionaries in the 1920s. Since then the Church in Argentina has continued to grow at a steady rate, with now over 470,000 members.
On 4 October 2008, during the 178th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Thomas S. Monson announced that a temple would be built in Córdoba, Argentina. The temple is built in the northwestern quarter of the city of Córdoba next to the recently rebuilt Argentina Córdoba Mission home on the grounds of the Villa Belgrano meetinghouse, which houses the Córdoba Argentina Sierras Stake.[1]
Ground was broken on 30 October 2010 and the temple site was dedicated by Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (view video below). The traditional gold-leafed statue of the angel Moroni was installed atop the spire of the Córdoba Argentina Temple on 13 August 2014. Prior to the construction of this new temple, members in the northern areas of Argentina had to travel some 400 miles to reach the one existing Argentina temple in Buenos Aires.
Contents
Public Open House and Cultural Celebration
The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the dates for the open house and dedication of the Córdoba Argentina Temple. The public attended a free open house from Friday, 17 April 2015 through Saturday, 2 May 2015. The open house was not conducted on Sunday, 19 April 2015 or Sunday 26 April 2015.
Hundreds of Latter-day Saint youth from communities near the temple presented the history of the Church through narration, song, and dance in a cultural celebration which was held on Saturday, 16 May 2015 in the Orfeo Superdome in Córdoba, Argentina. The theme of the celebration was "The Light of the Gospel Shines."
Temple Dedication
The Córdoba Argentina Temple was dedicated on Sunday, 17 May 2015, in three sessions. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, presided at the services and gave the dedicatory prayer. He was accompanied by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and other local and area General Authorities to include the South America South area presidency, and temple president and matron, President and Sister Mario Cecilio Cristóbal and Vilma Marta Cattaneo de Romero. Two choirs made up of Latter-day Saints from the temple district provided music for the cornerstone ceremony and inside the temple for the dedication services.
The Church Newsroom website reported:
- The Córdoba Argentina Temple was built on the site of one of the first chapels in Córdoba and the Argentina North Mission home. It is the same mission where Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presided as mission president. Elder Christofferson was one of his missionaries.
Elder Christofferson commented:
- It's almost surreal. Something beyond my fondest imaginations that we [the Church] would be here dedicating a temple, some 50 years, more or less, from my mission service time. It's a great blessing, a miracle, really.
The Córdoba Argentina Temple is the 145th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In addition to the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple, the Church is constructing a third temple in Salta, a fourth in Mendoza, and the fifth is being built in Bahía Blanca. A second temple in Buenos Aires was announced in October 2022.
References
- ↑ Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Córdoba Argentina Temple
Temples in Argentina
- Bahia Blanca Argentina Temple
- Buenos Aires Argentina Temple
- Buenos Aires City Center Argentina Temple
- Cordoba Argentina Temple
- Mendoza Argentina Temple
- Rosario Argentina Temple
- Salta Argentina Temple
