The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brazil

São Paulo Brazil Temple

As of January 1, 2016, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reported 1,326,738 members in 256 stakes and 39 districts, 2,038 Congregations (1,593 wards[1] and 445 branches),[1] 34 missions, and eight temples in Brazil.[2] However, the 2010 Brazilian census reported 226,509 as identifying as members of the church.[3]

History

The first members of the church in Brazil were immigrants who had joined the church in their native Germany before moving to Brazil.[4] Missionaries arrived in 1928 but, due to the prohibition on ordaining men of African descent to the priesthood, they were instructed to only work with German people living in the southern part of the country. After more Portuguese speaking Brazilians became interested, which had a high proportion of people with mixed ancestry, LDS officials advised missionaries to avoid teaching people who appeared to have black ancestry. When the Brazilian government outlawed the use of non-Portuguese languages in public meetings in 1938, the mission switched from a German language mission to a Portuguese speaking one.[5] One of the early missionaries in Brazil, serving in 1939, was James E. Faust. During World War II, many missionaries were sent home.[5]:26

After World War II, Rulon Howells became mission president. Under him, the primary goal for the Brazil mission was racial purity for all new converts. He told the missionaries to scrutinize people's appearances for hints of black ancestry and avoid teaching those who had any black ancestry. Missionaries were instructed to look for relatives of the investigators if they were not sure about their racial heritage. If during the course of the lessons, it was discovered they had black ancestry, they were discouraged from investigating the church.[6]:27 In Piracicaba, where several black people had joined, Howells segregated the branch so that black people would stop coming. He instituted a genealogy program to determine race and screened all baptisms. If it was discovered a member had black ancestry, their records were marked.[5]

The first stake in Brazil was organized by Spencer W. Kimball in 1966 in Sao Paulo. This was the first stake in all of South America. In 1967, the policy on race and the priesthood was changed such that dark skinned people were presumed eligible for the priesthood by default unless there was specific evidence of African descent. Starting in the 70s "lineage lessons" were added to determine that interested persons didn't have any Sub-Saharan African ancestry and thus deemed eligible for teaching.[7]:102[8]

In 1978, the Sao Paulo Temple was completed. The opening of the temple in Sao Paulo may have influenced the church's decision to reverse the ban on men of African descent from holding the priesthood due to difficulty in determining racial origins of many Brazilian church members. (See main article.)

Membership history

Year Membership[9]
1940233
1950648
19602,644
196519,050
197033,104
197645,747a
198081,504c
1985206,000b
1989302,000b
1995548,000b
2000775,822c
2005928,926c
20101,102,428a d
20151,326,738a
  • a Actual Membership for January 1 of the respective year
  • b Estimated membership for December 31 of the respective year
  • c Actual Membership for December 31 of the respective year
  • d This represents a dramatic differential from the 2010 national census that reported 226,509 self-identifying members,[3] causing some to question the membership numbers reported by the LDS church.[10]

Missions

a announced to be created July 2013.[11]

Temples

 17. São Paulo Brazil Temple

Location:
Announced:
Dedicated:
Rededicated:
 Size:
Style:

São Paulo, Brazil
1 March 1975
30 October 1978 by Spencer W. Kimball
22 February 2004 by Gordon B. Hinckley
59,246 sq ft (5,504 m2) on a 1.85 acre (0.7 ha) site
Spanish influenced modern, single-spire design - designed by Emil B. Fetzer

 101. Recife Brazil Temple

Location:
Announced:
Dedicated:
 Size:
Style:

Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
13 January 1995
15 December 2000 by Gordon B. Hinckley
37,200 sq ft (3,460 m2) on a 5.59 acre (2.3 ha) site
Classic modern, single-spire design - designed by J&P Arquitetos Ltd. and Church A&E Services

 102. Porto Alegre Brazil Temple

Location:
Announced:
Dedicated:
 Size:
Style:

Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
30 September 1997
17 December 2000 by Gordon B. Hinckley
10,700 sq ft (990 m2) and 71 ft (22 m) high on a 2 acre (0.8 ha) site
Classic modern, single-spire design - designed by Andre Belo de Faria and Church A&E Services

 111. Campinas Brazil Temple

Location:
Announced:
Dedicated:
 Size:
Style:

Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
3 April 1997
17 May 2002 by Gordon B. Hinckley
49,100 sq ft (4,560 m2) on a 6.18 acre (2.5 ha) site
Classic modern, single-spire design - designed by JCL Arquitetos Ltd., and Church A&E Services

 126. Curitiba Brazil Temple

Location:
Announced:
Dedicated:
 Size:
Style:
 Notes:

Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
23 August 2002
1 June 2008 by Thomas S. Monson
27,850 sq ft (2,587 m2) and 125 ft (38 m) high on a 8.15 acre (3.3 ha) site
Classic modern, single-spire design - designed by Jeronimo da Cunha Lima and GSBS
Temple dedicated on 1 June 2008 following an open house from 10 May to 24 May 2008.[12]

 138. Manaus Brazil Temple

Location:
Announced:
Dedicated:
 Size:
 Notes:

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
23 May 2007
10 June 2012 by Dieter F. Uchtdorf[13]
32,032 sq ft (2,976 m2) on a 7.7 acre (3.1 ha) site
The temple will serve approximately 44,000 members.[14][15]

 164. Fortaleza Brazil Temple (Under Construction)

Location:
Announced:
Groundbreaking:
 Size:
 Notes:

Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
3 October 2009
15 November 2011 by David A. Bednar
TBD
Announced by Thomas S. Monson in General Conference, 3 October 2009.[16][17] Ground was broken on the seventh temple in Brazil by David A. Bednar on November 15, 2011.[18]

168. Rio de Janeiro Brazil (Under Construction)

Location:
Announced:
Groundbreaking:
 Size:
 Notes:

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
6 April 2013
4 March 2017 by Claudio R. M. Costa
TBD
Announced by Thomas S. Monson on 6 April 2013[19]

176. Belém Brazil (Announced)

Location:
Announced:
 Notes:

Belém, Brazil
3 April 2016
Announced by Thomas S. Monson on 3 April 2016[20]

178. Brasilia Brazil (Announced)

Location:
Announced:
 Notes:

Brasilia, Brazil
2 April 2017
Announced by Thomas S. Monson on 2 April 2017[21]

191. Salvador Brazil (Announced)

Location:
Announced:
 Notes:

Salvador, Brazil
October 7, 2018
Announced by Russell M. Nelson on October 7, 2018[22][23]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 LDS Meetinghouse Locator. Nearby Congregations (Wards and Branches).
  2. ↑ LDS Newsroom (Statistical Information)
  3. 1 2 "População residente, por situação do domicílio e sexo, segundo os grupos de religião - Brasil - 2010" (PDF). Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  4. ↑ Grover, Mark. "The Church in Brazil: The Future Has Finally Arrived". Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Grover, Mark. "Religious Accommodation in the Land of Racial Democracy: Mormon Priesthood and Black Brazilians" (PDF). Dialogue. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  6. ↑ Grover, Mark. "Religious Accommodation in the Land of Racial Democracy: Mormon Priesthood and Black Brazilians" (PDF). Dialogue. Retrieved 20 April 2016. If at any point during the teaching process the missionaries had questions or found evidence indicating probable black lineage, they discouraged the person from continuing his or her investigation.
  7. ↑ Harris, Matthew L.; Bringhurst, Newell G. (2015). The Mormon Church and Blacks: A Documentary History. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-08121-7.
  8. ↑ "Lineage lesson, 1970 December". churchhistorycatalog.lds.org. Brazil North LDS Mission. Retrieved 2 August 2017. An example of these missionary "lineage lessons" (in Portuguese) can be viewed at the Church History website here with a document translation found here and here
  9. ↑ "Country information: Brazil", Deseret News Church Almanac (multiple almanacs from various years), Deseret News
  10. ↑ Stack, Peggy Fletcher (16 July 2012). "Brazil mystery: Case of the missing Mormons (913,045 of them, to be exact)". Salt Lake City Tribune. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  11. ↑ New mission presidents by area for 2013
  12. ↑ "Curtiba Brazil Temple: Additional info", LDS.org, LDS Church, retrieved 2012-10-16
  13. ↑ Weaver, Sarah Jane (June 10, 2012), "Manaus Brazil Temple: Dedication marks Church's 138th worldwide and sixth in Brazil", Church News, retrieved 2012-10-15
  14. ↑ "New Temple to Be Built in Manaus, Brazil", Newsroom (News Story), LDS Church, June 7, 2007, retrieved 2012-10-15
  15. ↑ "Ground Broken for Brazil's Sixth Temple", Newsroom (News Story), LDS Church, June 23, 2008, retrieved 2012-10-15
  16. ↑ "President Thomas S. Monson: 'Welcome to Conference'", Deseret News, October 3, 2009, retrieved 2012-11-06 .
  17. ↑ Talor, Scott (October 4, 2009), "Brigham City among five new locales for LDS temples", Deseret News, retrieved 2012-11-06 .
  18. ↑ "Ground Broken for Fortaleza Brazil Temple", Newsroom (News Release), LDS Church, November 15, 2011, retrieved 2012-11-06
  19. ↑ Walker, Joseph (April 6, 2013). "LDS react with joy to temples announced in Cedar City, Rio". Deseret News. Retrieved 6 April 2013. .
  20. ↑ Toone, Trent (3 April 2016). "President Monson announces 4 new temples at Sunday morning session". Deseret News. .
  21. ↑ "President Monson Announces Five New Temples: Mormon temples to be built in South America, Africa, Philippines and US". Newsroom. LDS Church. 2 April 2017.
  22. ↑ "Twelve Temples Announced as October 2018 General Conference Closes: Number of temples operating, announced or under construction now above 200", Newsroom, LDS Church, 7 October 2018
  23. ↑ LDS Church announces plans to build 12 new temples worldwide, pioneer generation temples will be renovated, KSTU Fox 13, 7 October 2018

References

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