Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple

Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple

Number

Dedication

17 September 2000 by
Gordon B. Hinckley

Site

6.42 acres (2.6 hectares)

Floor area

67,000 sq ft (6,200 m²)

Preceded by

Birmingham Alabama Temple

Followed by

Boston Massachusetts Temple

Official website • News & images

Additional information
Announcement	16 November 1993
Groundbreaking	18 August 1996 by Richard G. Scott
Open House	26 August – 9 September 2000
Designed by	Scott Partnership and Church A&E Services
Location	Avenida Bolivar no. 825 Los Robles, Santo Domingo Dominican Republic
Exterior finish	Regina white granite
Temple design	Classic modern, single-spire design
Ordinance rooms	2 with Movie, stationary sessions
Sealing rooms	2
Clothing rental	Yes
Cafeteria	Limited services
Visitors' center	No

Coordinates: 18°27′59.64120″N 69°55′1.718399″W / 18.4665670000°N 69.91714399972°W / 18.4665670000; -69.91714399972 The Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple is the 99th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It was the first temple to be built in the church's Caribbean area.

Santo Domingo is the Dominican Republic's capital city. Founded in 1496, it is the oldest European settlement existing in the New World. In 1978 the Dominican Republic was opened to Mormon missionaries. By 1986 membership had grown to eleven thousand and in 1998, LDS Church membership reached sixty thousand.^[1] Before the temple was built in the Dominican Republic, members of the church traveled to Peru, Guatemala, or the U.S. state of Florida to attend a temple.

The temple was announced on December 4, 1993.^[2] On August 18, 1996, Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve presided over the groundbreaking, marking the beginning of construction.^[3] The temple open house, held from 26 August to 9 September 2000, attracted nearly forty thousand people. Over ten thousand members of the church from the Dominican Republic and their neighbors from Haiti, Puerto Rico, and other islands witnessed the dedication of the temple on September 17, 2000 by LDS Church president Gordon B. Hinckley.

The Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple is located in the western part of the city. It is built on a rise that has kept it dry when other parts of the city were flooded.^[4] The site is adorned with trees and overlooks the Caribbean Sea. It has a total of 67,000 square feet (6,200 m²), four ordinance rooms, and four sealing rooms.^[5]

Temple district

Each temple is set up to serve the members of the church in the particular geographic area where it is located. These geographic areas contain stakes and districts which are ecclesiastical divisions or units of the church. Even though the Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple is located in the Caribbean, not all of the stakes and districts in the Caribbean basin are assigned to this temple.

The stakes and districts in Puerto Rico, Haiti and the Dominican Republic make up the temple's official district. The stakes and districts of the island of Jamaica belong to the Panama Temple district. Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Guyana are examples of countries whose stakes and districts fall in the Caracas Venezuela Temple district. Church units in Barbados and the Bahamas are assigned to Orlando Florida Temple. However members of the church may visit and use any temple in the world.

Controversy

In 2012, a researcher revealed that Anne Frank had been baptized for the dead in the Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple,^[6] in violation of a 1995 agreement between the church and Jewish groups that the church would no longer posthumously baptize Holocaust victims. In response, the church stated that the member that submitted the name for baptism would lose their submission privileges and that other disciplinary action would be considered.^[7]