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| The Mormon Temple in Rome |
Rome, the heart of Christianity now also has a Mormon Temple.
Italian Mormons are very pleased with their new temple, which took 10 years to be constructed. The representative of the Mormon Church in Italy, Alessandro Dini-Ciacci, displays proudly the Church facilities to VOA."Rome is the center of Christianity. Here are the Apostles Peter and Paul, the early apostles of the Church of Christ, who came to pray and give their testimony," he says.
Within the visitor center, marble statues of Jesus Christ and 12 apostles welcome those who want to learn more about Mormons and their faith.
It is a deluxe temple that the Mormons call it "The house of the Lord," where Mormon families will gather for ceremonies including baptism and marriage.
"The temple is built with the finest materials, it is very sophisticated, just as the love we give, the demonstration of our love for our Savior and his father, and therefore we chose the best materials.
There are Carrara marble, colored glass, expensive fabrics. All this is a reverence for our father in the heaven, "says the representative of the Mormon Church of Italy, Dini-Ciacci.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded in 1830 in New York State, by Joseph Smith, who claimed to have seen the Lord.
Its members believe that the Mormon Church turns Christianity into its original form in the time of the apostles of Jesus Christ.
In the heart of the temple. is a small pool that uses baptisms where church members can baptize, their dead predecessors.
Mormons follow the Ten Commandments, including the law of tithing that gives them the opportunity to pay for temples and humanitarian operations.
"We ask people to treat their bodies as temples, so we are asking them not to be contaminated with drugs or alcoholic beverages, we ask them not to smoke, that is what we believe appeared to one of the prophets the best of our members," says Dini-Ciacci.
Only members who apply all the rules can enter the inner halls of the temple. Within them they change and dress in white, a symbol of their belief that everyone is equal before God.