Montreal, Quebec - Mormon Temple
The leaders of the Mormon Church announced plans to build a temple in Montreal Quebec on August 6, 1998. The Montreal temple is the 6th temple to be built in Canada and the 86th Mormon temple worldwide. It was one of the temples announced with a long list of others, which President of the Mormon Church, Gordon B. Hinckley hoped to have completed by the end of 2000, so that there would be 100 operating temples throughout the world.
There is a great deal of Mormon history in Montreal. The Church began to be established in Montreal in the 1920’s after Mormon missionaries were sent to Montreal in 1918. However there were many strong converts from Quebec as early as the 1830’s who immigrated to the United States to be with the rest of the Church. For a long time, Montreal was the only part of Canada with a strong membership. In 1942, a church building was purchased from a Protestant congregation, renovated and used by the Mormon members in the area. By 1960 there were several congregations in Montreal. In 1961 the first French-speaking congregation was established and Mormon missionaries began teaching the gospel in French for the first time in Canada. By 1981, there were 3,246 members in Quebec, the membership steadily grew to 6,800 members in 1990 and today there are more then 8,500 members in Quebec.
A site dedication and groundbreaking ceremony were held on April 9, 1999. Gary J. Coleman, a member of the Seventy, presided at the ceremony. The temple plot is 2.4 acres in the town of Longueuil.
The Mormon temple was open to the public for tours of the interior May 20th through the 27th 2000. Despite the short weeklong open house, more than 10,000 people toured the temple. Those who toured the 10,700 square foot temple during the open house, were able to see the two ordinance rooms that can seat forty people each, the Celestial room, baptistery, two sealing rooms and beautiful craftsmanship that adorn the interior of the temple. The exterior finish is made of Bethel white granite from Northern Vermont.
The President and Prophet of the Mormon Church, Gordon B. Hinckley, dedicated the Montreal Quebec Mormon temple on June 4, 2000. Before the dedication began a cornerstone ceremony was held to officially complete the construction of the temple. Gordon B. Hinckley placed the cornerstone and had help from local children in placing the mortar. Around 6,000 members attended the four dedicatory sessions of the Montreal temple. The Montreal Mormon temple serves more than 12,200 members from Montreal, Ottawa Ontario, Montpelier Vermont, and New York areas.
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