By Mike Baños
The Cagayan de Oro Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) have officially announced the construction of their Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple.
The announcement was made during a visit by religious leaders affiliated with the World Interfaith Harmony Organization on February 3, 2024, as part of the worldwide celebration of World Interfaith Harmony Week at the Kauswagan LDS Chapel, RER Subdivision, Kauswagan, Cagayan de Oro.
“One of the key highlights of this gathering is to apprise and raise awareness about our ongoing preparations for the construction of a temple here in Cagayan de Oro,” said Nelvin L. Malingin, President, Cagayan de Oro East Stake, during a luncheon briefing after touring the visitors around the premises.
A temple for Cagayan de Oro — in the region of Northern Mindanao on the island of Mindanao — was one of seven locations for new houses of the Lord that President Russell M. Nelson announced on April 1, 2018, the first general conference he presided over after becoming President of the Church.
The Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple will be built on a 4.9-acre site at Lot 2163-c and Lot 2163-d Rosario Limketkai Avenue, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental.
Plans for the Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple call for a two-story structure of approximately 18,449 square feet (1,714 square meters). An ancillary building will also be constructed, including an arrival center, patron housing and distribution center.
Location Map at Limketkai Drive (Trip ni Tonio)
Site preparation works are ongoing along Lapasan-Camaman-an Road (Rosario Limketkai Avenue) near Filinvest’s One Oasis development. The property has been fenced for a while now since the project was first announced in 2018. It will be the second Mormon temple in Mindanao.
Ongoing site prepration (Trip ni Tonio)
There are more than 200 temples throughout the world either in operation, under construction or announced. (See temple list.)
On most temples there is a golden statue of a man in flowing robes, with a long horn pressed to his lips. The statue depicts the angel Moroni, an ancient prophet and a central figure in the Book of Mormon. The statue is symbolic of the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.
Of the 355 Temples worldwide, 183 are operating, 51 are under construction, 5 under renovation, and 96 new ones have been announced.
Of the 13 Temples in the Philippines, 2 are operating, 4 under construction, 7 have been announced
The two temples operating are the Manila Philippines Temple, dedicated in 1984, and the Cebu City Philippines Temple, dedicated in 2010 — with the Urdaneta Philippines Temple scheduled for dedication on April 28, 2024, by President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency.
Three other houses of the Lord are under construction in the southeastern Asia island nation — the Alabang Philippines, the Bacolod Philippines and the Davao Philippines temples.
Six more have been announced — for Iloilo, Laoag, Naga, Santiago, Tacloban City and Tuguegarao City — giving the Philippines 13 total temples that are dedicated, under construction or in planning.
More than 850,000 Church members in approximately 1,275 congregations live in the Philippines. The gospel was first preached there in 1961, where Church growth has been among the fastest in the world.
LSD Temples
Latter-day Saint temples are considered houses of God, a place of holiness and peace separate from the preoccupations of the world. They provide a place where Church members make formal promises and commitments to God. They are also the place where the highest sacraments of the faith occur — the marriage of couples and the “sealing” of families for eternity.
They serve as the only place where ceremonies such as baptism and eternal marriage can be performed in behalf of those who have died — a practice that Latter-day Saints believe was followed in New Testament times, but was later lost.
Temples are not regular places of Sunday worship for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are quite different from the thousands of regular chapels or meetinghouses all over the world that are used for Sunday services.
Anyone, regardless of religion, may enter a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse and attend services. However, because of the sacredness of temples as “houses of the Lord,” only members of the Church, who are in good standing are allowed to enter the temples. A member must be observing the basic principles of the faith and attest to that fact to his or her local leaders once every two years in order to enter a temple.
The sacredness of the temple anciently can be seen in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, Moses had the children of Israel carry with them the Tabernacle (a large, portable temple) as they wandered in the wilderness. King Solomon built and dedicated the great temple that was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. It was rebuilt and later substantially expanded, but again destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70. The great Western Wall can still be seen in Jerusalem today, and even after millennia, remains a sacred site for Jews. The New Testament gives an account of Jesus Christ clearing the temples when its sacredness was violated by people using its courts as a common market.
Temples point Latter-day Saints to Jesus Christ and their eventual life with Him, their Heavenly Father and their family members on the condition of faithfulness to Christ’s teachings.
In a modern-day revelation, Joseph Smith received direction to build a temple in Kirtland, Ohio (dedicated in 1836). Later he was instructed to build a temple in Nauvoo, Illinois (1846). So important were temples to early Church members that within days after arriving in Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young selected the site of the Salt Lake Temple.
“Each holy temple stands as a symbol of our membership in the Church, as a sign of our faith in life after death, and as a sacred step toward eternal glory for us and our families.” – President Russell M. Nelson
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