The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced the groundbreaking date of the Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temple.
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
Groundbreaking services will be held on Saturday, March 18, 2023. Elder Peter F. Meurs, General Authority Seventy and First Counselor in the Pacific Area Presidency, will preside at the event.
Attendance at the site will be by invitation only. Additional details will be released as the date of the groundbreaking approaches.
The Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temple was first announced by Church President Russell M. Nelson in October 2019. This will be the first house of the Lord in the country. Currently, the closest temple to the more than 35,000 Latter-day Saints who call Papua New Guinea home is the Brisbane Australia Temple, located about 1,300 miles away.
Latter-day Saints consider temples as houses of the Lord and the most sacred places of worship on earth. Temples differ from the Church’s meetinghouses (chapels). All are welcome to attend Sunday worship services and other weekday activities at local meetinghouses. The primary purpose of temples is for faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ to participate in sacred ceremonies, such as marriages, which unite families forever, and proxy baptisms on behalf of deceased ancestors who did not have the opportunity to be baptized while living.