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The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released the location of the Barcelona Spain Temple.
This temple will be built at the intersection of Avinguda de la Vía Augusta and Avinguda de la Clota, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain. Plans call for a two-story temple of approximately 27,500 square feet. An ancillary building of approximately 13,600 square feet, with patron housing, an arrival center and a distribution center will also be built on the 5.4-acre site.

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.or ... -announced

Sant Cugat has become an affluent suburb of Barcelona due to its location (only 20 kilometres from the city), its natural surroundings, and its pedestrian shopping area. Sant Cugat also offers restaurants, a concert venue, two cinemas, and one large shopping centre.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sant_Cugat_del_Vallès

The Church's association with affluent areas, upmarket restaurants and shopping, seems somewhat contrary to my understanding of how Jesus would operate an organisation.

IHAQ wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 10, 2023 10:16 am

The Church's association with affluent areas, upmarket restaurants and shopping, seems somewhat contrary to my understanding of how Jesus would operate an organisation.

This problem, and its downsides, has been discussed well before the CoJCoLDS came on the scene:

[Upon the famous theologian Thomas Aquinas, 1225 – 1274] entering the presence of [Pope] Innocent II., before whom a large sum of money was spread out, the Pope observed, ‘You see, the Church is no longer in that age in which she said, ‘Silver and gold have I none.’’”—‘True, holy father,” replied Aquinas; ‘neither can she any longer say to the lame, ‘Rise up and walk.’

See Acts 3:6 for the incident to which both of them are referring, in which Peter meets a beggar who is sick and unable to walk.

The story about Aquinas as usually told cannot be true, because Pope Innocent II lived and died many years before Aquinas. See:

https://www.catholic365.com/article/512 ... hurch.html

But, as the Italians say "se non e vero, e ben trovato" [Even if it is not true, it is well invented.]

IHAQ wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 10, 2023 10:16 am

The Church's association with affluent areas, upmarket restaurants and shopping, seems somewhat contrary to my understanding of how Jesus would operate an organisation.

Wonder if members of the Church Finance Committee purchased property to build inflated-price houses nearby to sell to wealthy members?

Since the temple will be in the environs of Barcelona, I hope they're going with a Gaudí-style structure, in the spirit of La Sagrada Família.





Please, God, let it be something like this--only topped with a trumpet-playing, gold-clad angel.



edit: Please don't think that I'm denigrating the Basílica de la Sagrada Família. I think it's absolutely, over-the-top incredible.

Temples are a travel destination for wealthy Mormons.

patron housing

Is this a common element of temples, and who exactly lives there?

I have an uncle that's a temple president (anecdotal example of one isn't worth much, I realize), and unless he's secretly keeping dual residences, he's not sleeping there.

have stayed at patron housing in UK, Sweden, France and Spain. They are happy to house people from anywhere as long as they are doing work in the Temple. Some have twin rooms and others have only rooms for several people. I recently stayed at the London Temple. I called the day before and she apologised that all the twin rooms were gone but I got a room with 2 sets of bunk beds to myself. Madrid had no twin rooms, only rooms with bunk beds. Some rooms have basic kitchens but all accommodation buildings have a large kitchen with plenty of cookers, fridges etc. I'm sure the patron housing at the Rome temple will be the same.

https://www.reddit.com/r/latterdaysaint ... n_housing/

Morley wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 10, 2023 4:32 pm

Since the temple will be in the environs of Barcelona, I hope they're going with a Gaudí-style structure, in the spirit of La Sagrada Família.

I remember suggesting they copy this style for the yet-to-be-announced Cedar City Temple over at that more holy message board years ago. I was told that the Temple was not meant to be a tourist destination and that the style was too Gaudi for the Cedar City burghers, even if it would bring in tourist dollars. Just as well, since Cedar City has now become just another Russian Oblast fighting a war against Ukraine and Democrats.

Lol...that poor building in Barcelona was started 140 years ago and is still not finished. At what point do you scrap a project? But the suggestion is a good one, the Church might want to consider doing something like that. The SL temple took 40 years to build and that became a lesson in faith and perseverance for all Mormons for all time. Start a temple that won't be completed until, say, 2175 and the pay off could be monumental. Unfortunately Jesus is scheduled to come way before the date of completion. It may be like the Far West, or Independence temples that were never built. Granted it sounds like God to test the faith of the Mormons by trying to get them to build an extra ornate structure, scheduled to be completed in a 150 some odd years, only to have it razed by his anger before it takes off over the failed faith of Barcelonians. "leave this as a lesson to all of my faithful...do what I say, but if I say something that sounds a little looney, don't do it, or I'll have you tortured and burned for eternity, ye faithless and perverse generation."

President of Mormonism from the future, "the problem was, they tried too hard to do God's will. They didn't listen enough to the spirit which would have told them to not listen to God. It's a lesson we can all benefit from."

I can't think of any temples that I have personally seen that aren't in affluent neighborhoods, or that aren't prominently situated on a hill or in a bustling downtown setting. I don't know how temples sites are selected outside the U.S., but it's a bit of a spiritual turn-off to be driving among the McMansions in the U.S. and then happen upon the local temple.

Part of me understands, I admit. Mormons are, more than most denominations, concerned about aesthetics. And the temples that don't, on account of humble surroundings, further the image of prosperity may detract from the message the church wants to convey.

With the explosion in Mormon temple construction, the church may eventually run out of affluent areas in which to build. Or, conversely, as demographics and economies shift, once-affluent neighborhoods that host Mormon temples may eventually become comparatively humble.

The church was willing to sink jaw-dropping amounts of money into thoroughly revamping downtown Salt Lake City in order to keep the areas around Temple Square as urban-affluent as possible. Perhaps it would do something similar in other areas if it felt that its prosperity gospel message was being adversely impacted by economic realities of the neighborhood.