Students at BYUH said they have been watching and anxiously waiting for the Temple in Rome, Italy since President Thomas S. Monson announced it in October General Conference of 2008. Along with the temple, some additional buildings are being built in the surrounding areas. According to an article The Deseret News posted, an LDS stake center, a visitors’ center, a family history center, and an accommodation center will be built as well. The article stated that the accommodation center “will provide lodging for temple workers and patrons who have to travel significant distances to Rome.” Berit Muller, (Bae) a sophomore studying graphic design from Germany was excited about the temple in Rome. She said, “It is amazing that the church will be so hugely present in Rome.” Cardinal Elio Sgreccia, adviser to the last three popes and emeritus president of the Pontiful Academy for Life, stated his feelings toward the complex in an article posted by thedailybeast.com. He said, “This new Mormon center, the largest in Europe, will certainly be a problem. As for ecumenism, dialogue and the search for unity among all Christians, their presence in Rome is not necessarily an uplifting factor.” Even though Rome is considered the Catholic capital of the world, Nayomi Sornoza from Italy said the people there will naturally be curious about our religion and want to know more. She said, “Many people, even non-members, will be attracted to the temple and can discover our religion and the Book of Mormon. I think it’s a very beautiful thing that two religions can grow together. Despite Rome being the Catholic capital of the world, everyone is free to discover something new especially when it comes to God.”Contrary to Sgreccia’s statement that the temple will disrupt the search for Christian equality, Donnie Winter a senior majoring in Finance from California said, “Romans are entitled to their opinions, but I disagree that it will be bad for Christian equality. I don’t think it will do any harm.“ Instead of the negative aspects or outcomes, Winter looks at the possible benefits and optimistic outcomes for all religions in that area. He said, “I think there are a lot of benefits that will come from the temple being in this area. It is a good learning opportunity for both sides. It gives other faiths in that area the option to learn about our religion. It also gives us the chance to branch out and learn about the other religions in that area as well, and to exercise our missionary muscles. The church might find that we have more in common with other religions than we thought.” Muller also has an optimistic outlook on the issue. “The strong Catholics will not like this competition, a temple being built next to them, but as soon as they go through the open house they’ll be converted.” Muller said. Monsignor Enrico Feroci, head of Rome’s Caritas made a statement in an article on thedailybeast.com. He said he isn’t worried about the effect of Mormons on the Catholic faith because they don’t pose a threat to a long and well established religion. “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.” Thomas S. Monson said in General conference in April of 2011 the Italian Senator Lucio Malan and Rome’s vice-mayor Guiseppe Ciardi were “among the first to turn a shovelful of earth” at the groundbreaking. They both had also been involved in the decision to permit the building of the temple in that area, said Thomas S. Monson. When touring the temple site, Italian Mayor Gianni Alemanno was reported to come away from the experience impressed; according to deseretnews.com he was impressed by the high standards of construction and materials. He said, “Every religious center that is created within the perimeter of our city gives even more value to it as the center of Catholicism, because it shows that there is an openness, a tolerance, and a shared understanding of the value of human life and of the family. And this, for us, is important, even from a social standpoint. In fact we are convinced that the people that believe in these values can give a positive contribution to the life of our city. According to an lds.org church news article, a dedication date hasn’t been set but is predicted to take place sometime in 2015.
Writer: Kaitlin Broyles ~ Multimedia Journalist
