NOM

Entire First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve to attend Rome Temple dedication

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900 ... ormon.html

Interesting to see this happening. My guess is that in order for this to take place, the LDS church must have formed very strong ties with the Vatican and the Italian government. So much so that the ENTIRE FP wanted to attend for a good show.

In my post about the ward rodeo (90# Pork Butt) one of the families that is a fixture in the ward will not be attending the rodeo this week.

This is because the wife was fortunate enough by way of a tender mercy miracle to receive an invitation to the Rome temple dedication. All she had to do was buy a flight to Rome, as well as hotel, transportation, etc. So the husband drove her from PHX to SLC (because of reasons) so she could travel to Rome. I have no idea why she had to go to SLC.

A trip of a lifetime to see what can be seen in Phoenix.

What would happen if 15 COBlers died in a plane crash heading over there? Does the top of the 70 instantly get promoted? Is it the presiding bish?

Wouldn't that be something? There's that promise that the keys will not be taken from the Earth until the sons of Aaron kill a goat, so what if it did happen? Apocalypse now!

I can see them wanting a boondoggle to Rome.

Hmmm, I’ll bet the Pocatello temple doesn’t get this type of turnout. Sounds like a super nice corporate retreat though. This has got to be a huge stroke to the egos, a mormon, oops I mean, an ETCOJCOLDS temple in the heart of Catholicism. You can buy anything in this world with money....

WOW! < That's sarcastic if you can't tell.

Less than .01% of the world's population actually cares where 15 old mormon dudes are, or "are going to be" on any given day. Even less care about the very expensive, extravagant, completely useless building they are going to "dedicate."

The name Bruce R. Mcconkie makes me shudder. He would see the temple in Rome as being a fulfillment of prophecy. Of course, how much money and lobbying were invested in that edifice wouldn't matter much. I mean, after all, "Anything can be bought with money"...right? Even temples.........

Italian press reported a while ago that it was the biggest capital project in Italy at around 100million€. This was before the monumental stuff up with a contractor that required a full gutting and redo of the interior and allegedly the exterior and possibly the foundations. The job was so poor the Church spent months getting approval for US contractors to work in Italy to shadow every worker to ensure quality materials and process are utilised. Hence the 10 years it has taken to complete it. This could easily be a 150milliom€ project. Insane.

I do love how the Church was screwed over. The same thing happened in Mexico. The Mexico City temple had two major renovations in quick succession. The Church passed it off as an intentional two stage process. Reality is the electrical wiring through the entire temple was so poor, it had to be completely redone.

Of course there are the McMansion temples being redone now completely from the ground up. Allegedly porous cladding was used in damp climates resulting in rot through the entire structure requiring a full gutting and rebuild. A gross waste of money.

I imagine they have internally inflated the significance of this trip into something biblically epoch like Paul evangelizing on Mars Hill, or The CoJCoLDS conquering Rome, or God clearing a path for the church like he parted the seas for Moses, and I bet we'll get to hear each one of them pontificate about it for years to come.

But from the other side of the fence it's more like a bunch of old guys from a small church that protects sexual predators plunking down an ungodly amount of real estate cash to a bunch of old guys from a huge church that protects sexual predators.

The video of the Rome Temple shows that it is lavishly decorated. Very impressive chandeliers and stained glass windows.

As to the spirit of Bruce R. McConkie being there, are you referring to the touch of hate he sent to Rome by calling it "the whore of Babylon"?



Interesting Church Trivia - The Church had both a Brigham Young Statue and a Joseph Smith Sphynx before it has a Christus statue.

I wouldn't believe the deception of the last days, now I have proof. I have nothing against the Catholic Church or the Vatican per se. Sure ,they had their murderous Witch hunting and the Inquisition, torture, pedophilia, etc. But, that's ancient and recent history, right? Many churches have issues. We had our own mini murders too, Cedar City Massacre. It just blows my mind how 30-40 years ago, joining hands with the whore of Babylon was a no no, today we are dedicating a temple in Rome. LOL. How things change. That is not to say that BRM was right. After all the Catholic church was NOT in existence when the BOM referred to the whore of Babylon. I just think that the entire FP going there is just amazing. The costs, the hotels, the dinners with dignitaries, meeting the Pope, I am sure, etc. The money $$$. I am glad I am not longer part of the club. I still believe in God and there are some doctrines I really like and many Mormons are very decent people. But, if the Devil really exists, I think He or she got a hold of a lot of people. Maybe in these last days ,we are indeed under his rule until Christ comes and puts and end to all this partying and money spending.

I think of the church as a huge worldwide corporation, which makes this move make a lot more sense.

I work for the multinational research arm of a multinational corporation based in the US. Including contractors, the company's employee count is about triple the population of the town I live in. It's very easy for our building of 100 or so in the UK to feel left out or lacking direction, even as the company leans on its research arm to prepare it to thrive in the tech market of 5-15 years from now.

When the CEO and board of directors show up, it's a huge deal. Even if they do nothing else, it shows us that they're paying attention and appreciate our work.

That's the context in which I read this and the rest of the article:

For the first time, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has placed one of its most sacred buildings in a land of the Bible, and to dedicate it this weekend, the entire First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are assembling outside the United States for what is believed to be the first time in the faith’s 188-year history.

The church in Europe is dwindling. The area goal of doubling sacrament meeting attendance by 2020 has turned out to be... optimistic, to say the least. Members are checking out both mentally and physically. Local leaders are overworked and stressed. The church here needs shoring up and to feel appreciated and special, and the men who would do it believe that their presence - augmented of course by God magic - will help.

Apart from any God magic, they're probably right.

In both my company and the church, when the CEO and the board of directors visit, you bet it's expensive. Apart from meeting with the troops, or at least the troops' commanding officers, they need to maintain connections to other corporations' VIPs and government officials. All of that costs money. Something that's often overlooked in conversations about VIP visits is the scales they deal with. VIPs have so much influence that spending what normal people would think of as lavish amounts can be very worthwhile. While I would love to see more funds diverted to the needy living from the safely dead, the only reason I would personally feel like insisting the funds should be taken from the Q15's Rome trip budget would be wanting their trip to fail.

If I were advising any VIPs on trip expenses, here's what I would say. Spend what you need to meet your objectives, and to be personally comfortable during your crazy 24/7 job. Don't do anything that could be construed as bribing a government official. Don't spend in a way that makes you look entitled. While recognizing that those 30 French cuffs imply a certain disconnect from even the average member, I think the Q15 largely do what I would advise.

BlackMormon wrote: ↑Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:20 pm It just blows my mind how 30-40 years ago, joining hands with the whore of Babylon was a no no, today we are dedicating a temple in Rome.

Everything changed when we realized that they have the same institutional disdain for LGBT+ people as our church has. Hands across the water.

Reuben wrote: ↑Sat Mar 09, 2019 9:02 am I think of the church as a huge worldwide corporation, which makes this move make a lot more sense.

I think the Rome Temple Complex is slated to be the HQ for the Church's European operations.

Bruce R Mcconkie is probably rolling over seeing the current Prophet is cozy with the pope , his hatred for the Catholics has diminished despite his efforts in the late 50s and 60s. I never liked the hatred dropped on the Catholic church they are our brothers and sisters despite Bruce and other church leaders. Maybe after 50 or 60 years we have finally gotten on the straight and narrow concerning other faiths. God Bless.