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At the groundbreaking ceremony for the Recife Brazil Temple on Nov. 15, 1996, Church President Gordon B. Hinckley told those in attendance that this second temple in Brazil was a “part of the plan of the Lord.” He recounted how he was inspired to choose the temple site because of its highly visible, elevated position near a highway, as well as the “beautiful and very valuable” palm and mango trees on the grounds that were “a tremendous asset to this property.”
“It is necessary that we add this holy house,” said President Hinckley at the groundbreaking. “We hope, brothers and sisters, that you will live worthy of it. We hope that you will come here frequently. We hope that everyone in this area who becomes a member of the Church will have the opportunity of coming here to do ordinance work. Only as this is done can the work of the Lord be completed.”
Joined by more than 7,100 Church members, President Hinckley returned to dedicate the Recife Brazil Temple on Dec. 15, 2000, amid heavy rain. Several of the attendees sacrificed more than standing in the rain, with some of them spending more than 72 hours traveling to the temple.
Church members in Brazil — a country of 3.29 million square miles (8.52 million square kilometers) — were accustomed to long temple trips, however, as many of the Brazilian Saints lived more than a week’s journey away from the São Paulo Brazil Temple on the southeast side of Brazil, 1,329 miles (2,139 kilometers) away from the new house of the Lord in Recife.
Several attendees at the dedication of the Recife temple came from northern Brazilian cities such as Fortaleza, Maceió, Salvador and Natal. One of these attendees, Ana Maria Agra de Oliveira of Recife, told Church News at the dedication: “Now I live closer to heaven.”
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “May this sacred edifice be an inspiration to all who serve here, be they workers or patrons. May it represent to them the holiest of all things holy; and may the work they accomplish here be sacred and divine unto them. May they know they are in the service of the Master in that which they do in behalf of others.”
Read the dedicatory prayer of the Recife Brazil Temple here.
The First Presidency of the Church — at the time consisting of President Howard W. Hunter, Church President; President Gordon B. Hinckley, first counselor; and President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor — announced a temple for Recife, Brazil, along with a temple for Cochabamba, Bolivia, on Jan. 13, 1995.
Ground was broken for the temple on Nov. 15, 1996. Church President Gordon B. Hinckley presided over the groundbreaking ceremony, with about 3,000 attendees at the event.
The public was invited to tour the completed house of the Lord from Nov. 11 through Dec. 2, 2000. An approximate 16,000 attended on the last day of the open house.
The Recife Brazil Temple was dedicated in four sessions by President Hinckley — who became Church President in March 1995 — on Dec. 15, 2000. Around 7,100 Church members attended one of the four dedication ceremonies.
A temple for Recife, Brazil, was announced Jan. 13, 1995, to local leaders in the temple district. A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the house of the Lord on Nov. 15, 1996.
Visitors toured the completed house of the Lord from Nov. 11 through Dec. 2, 2000. Church President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the Recife Brazil Temple on Dec. 15, 2000.
The 37,200-square-foot Recife Brazil Temple was built on 5.59 acres of land. Mango trees and 200-year-old palm trees dot the temple grounds, which are adjacent to a busy highway. The interior of the temple features two instruction rooms and three sealing rooms.
The temple site is located on property that was initially thought to be unsuitable for building, as it was susceptible to flooding. In order to safely build the temple, more than 1,000 pilings were driven into the land to create a stable base.
13 January 1995
15 December 2000
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This was the second Latter-day Saint temple in Brazil.
At the groundbreaking ceremony for this temple, President Hinckley told the congregation that when he visited Recife to inspect potential sites for the house of the Lord, this site stood out because of its proximity to a busy highway and the 200-year-old palm trees that stood on the property. The trees were “a tremendous asset to this property,” the Prophet said.
The pilings that were driven into the land on the temple site are called “stakes” in Brazil. “Now I understand why the temple has to be supported by stakes,” said President Francisco D. Granja of the Recife Brazil Stake. “These [construction] stakes are a reminder to the members in the surrounding stakes — who will do the majority of the work — that it is necessary to have strong Church stakes so the temple can function.”
This was the only Brazil temple for which Church President Gordon B. Hinckley presided over both the groundbreaking and the dedication.
It was dedicated nearly 22 years after the first temple in Brazil, the São Paulo Brazil Temple.
The Recife temple was dedicated two days before the Porto Alegre Brazil Temple was dedicated. President Hinckley dedicated both temples, despite a distance of over 1,800 miles between the two.
This was the second Latter-day Saint temple in Brazil.
At the groundbreaking ceremony for this temple, President Hinckley told the congregation that when he visited Recife to inspect potential sites for the house of the Lord, this site stood out because of its proximity to a busy highway and the 200-year-old palm trees that stood on the property. The trees were “a tremendous asset to this property,” the Prophet said.
The pilings that were driven into the land on the temple site are called “stakes” in Brazil. “Now I understand why the temple has to be supported by stakes,” said President Francisco D. Granja of the Recife Brazil Stake. “These [construction] stakes are a reminder to the members in the surrounding stakes — who will do the majority of the work — that it is necessary to have strong Church stakes so the temple can function.”
This was the only Brazil temple for which Church President Gordon B. Hinckley presided over both the groundbreaking and the dedication.
It was dedicated nearly 22 years after the first temple in Brazil, the São Paulo Brazil Temple.
The Recife temple was dedicated two days before the Porto Alegre Brazil Temple was dedicated. President Hinckley dedicated both temples, despite a distance of over 1,800 miles between the two.