Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shut down its temple in the capital of Kyiv.
That temple, originally announced in 1998 and dedicated in 2010, has now reopened.
The Utah-based faith has “carefully evaluated the current circumstances and decided to resume — on a limited basis — the sacred religious ceremonies in the temple,” church spokesperson Irene Caso wrote Monday in a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune.
Caso explained that members (there were more than 11,200 in Ukraine in 2021, according to the church’s tally) have been “able to make appointments to participate in temple ceremonies” since Oct. 14. No other Latter-day Saint temples are located in Ukraine.
During the temple’s dedication a dozen years ago, then-church President Thomas S. Monson prayed that it would “provide a spirit of peace to all who observe its majesty, and especially to those who enter for their own sacred ordinances and to perform the work for their loved ones beyond the veil. Let them feel of thy divine love and mercy.”
The peace outside the walls of the 22,000-square-foot structure has been shattered by the ongoing war. In fact, Russia renewed its missile attacks on Kyiv just days before the Latter-day Saint temple reopened.
Latter-day Saints view temples as Houses of the Lord, places where the faithful participate in the church’s highest ordinances, including eternal marriage.
Follow @sltribnoyce