President Oaks dedicates Belo Horizonte Brazil Temple – Church News

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil — With an emphasis on the Savior and the covenants and ordinance work taking place in the temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worldwide, President Dallin H. Oaks dedicated the Belo Horizonte Brazil Temple on Sunday, Aug. 16.

“The temple is a house of the Lord, a house built for the sacred work of the Lord God of Israel, our Savior and our Redeemer, to prepare us for exaltation in the celestial kingdom of God,” he said.

Underscoring that “we are living in a glorious season of temple building,” President Oaks listed some of the statistics regarding temples of the Church in Brazil and worldwide.

With its dedication, the Belo Horizonte temple becomes the 12th operating house of the Lord in Brazil and the 220th worldwide — with the Cleveland Ohio Temple also dedicated Sunday morning and following as the 221st.

The Church has 164 additional temples under construction or in planning, making a total of 385 houses of the Lord worldwide that are dedicated, being built, or announced and in design. And President Oaks was mindful of the 24 total temples in Brazil, a country with more than 1.57 million members and more than 2,000 wards and branches.

“We rejoice in the growth and maturity of the restored Church in this great nation,” said President Oaks.

The purpose of temples

But more than numbers, President Oaks said he wants Latter-day Saints to remember and act upon the purpose of houses of the Lord.

“Temples are essential to our Heavenly Father’s plan for His children,” he said. “In these houses of the Lord, we are taught the most important things we can learn and do in mortality and in the life that follows.

Service in temples centers on Jesus Christ, he added. All that is learned and done in temples relates to Him, and all who go to the temple participate in His saving work and receiving His blessings.

“These blessings and the saving authority which we call temple work is supremely important for all of God’s children, those on earth and those in the spirit world.”

When Latter-day Saints come to houses of the Lord, they make covenants, President Oaks said.

“These temple covenants are the way the Lord reminds us to stay worthy of His blessings and to translate the knowledge we receive in the temple into service in our fellowman,” he added. “The knowledge of eternity and the covenants we make are so important and so valuable that they are referred to as an endowment.”

Participating leaders

For the dedication weekend in Belo Horizonte, President Oaks was accompanied by his wife, Sister Kristen M. Oaks. Also participating were Elder Steven R. Bangerter, General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Church’s Temple Department, and his wife, Sister Susan A. Bangerter; and Elder Ronald M. Barcellos, General Authority Seventy and counselor in the Church’s Brazil Area presidency, and his wife, Sister Karin Barcellos.

Sunday’s dedication was the second done by President Oaks — following the Jan. 11 dedication of the Burley Idaho Temple — since being set apart and announced as President of the Church on Oct. 14, 2025.

The Belo Horizonte temple dedication served as his first international temple dedication and his first international ministry as Church President. But he has been to Belo Horizonte several times before — in ministries, conferences and trainings in past decades as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

In addition to Sunday’s dedication and the day-before walk-through of the temple, President Oaks conducted an interview Saturday afternoon, Aug. 15, with a reporter from Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão, a São Paulo-based TV network that is the second largest in the country.

Sunday’s 10 a.m. dedicatory session was broadcast live to meetinghouses in the Belo Horizonte temple district, including much of the large, inland state of Minas Gerais and the coastal state of Espírito Santo. It was rebroadcast to the meetinghouses later that afternoon.

‘We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet’

Latter-day Saints attending the session or helping usher inside the temple arrived on the temple grounds under sunny Brazilian skies, starting to line up several hours before the 10 a.m. start time. They were inside and seated well before the 8:50 a.m. arrival of President and Sister Oaks.

As the Oakses exited the car, those in line sang “We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet” (Hymns, No. 19) in Portuguese. Many were seeing a Church president in person for the first time — and maybe the only time — in their lives. As such, tears flowed freely and unabashedly as members returned waves that they were receiving from President and Sister Oaks as they entered the temple.

The President of the Church went in and out of the temple with the aid of Sister Oaks, members of his security team and a small rolling walker. He joked at one point to onlookers: “When you get to be over 90 years, you can have one of these.”

President Oaks turned 94 on Wednesday, Aug. 12, dedicating the Belo Horizonte temple just four days after his birthday.

Happy to have ‘their’ temple

Elder Pierre Portes, the Area Seventy who leads the stake presidents composing the Belo Horizonte Coordinating Council, described the Latter-day Saints in Belo Horizonte and the state of Minas Gerais as faithful, devoted and warm.

“They are humble and simple, faithful disciples of Jesus Christ,” he said. “They are very committed to the work of the Lord and consider their religious duties highly.”

For decades, Latter-day Saints in and around Belo Horizonte — a name meaning “beautiful horizon” in Portuguese — have traveled long to attend the temple. First it was the São Paulo Brazil Temple, dedicated in 1978 and the first house of the Lord not only in Brazil but all of South America. Later, Belo Horizonte was part of the Campinas Brazil Temple district after that temple was dedicated in 2002.

Both of those houses of the Lord are southwest of Belo Horizonte, with many Church members driving seven hours to get to the temple or taking an eight-hour overnight bus ride. The São Paulo temple is a drive of more than 620 kilometers (385 miles) from its counterpart in Belo Horizonte, with the Campinas temple some 580 kilometers (360 miles) away from the new temple.

“The temple trips — though long and expensive — have always been full, and they’ve even had recently some ‘farewell trips’ to the Campinas temple, with a lot of youth,” Elder Portes said. “They are really happy to have ‘their’ temple and to be able to attend the temple even more regularly.”

Elder Portes offered this perspective on the new house of the Lord in Belo Horizonte:

“Having a temple in the state of Minas Gerais and in its capital city will bless the future generation with more opportunities to attend it regularly, protecting them from the evil attacks of our day. New members will also be blessed as they will have the chance to attend the temple immediately following their baptism, fulfilling the vision of the Brethren to strengthen new converts.”

A number of recent converts — some joining the Church because of their experiences during the late June public open house for the Belo Horizonte Temple — were among some 200 individuals who attended the dedication ceremony inside the temple.

Elder Portes added that the more experienced Latter-day Saints and their families are already starting to receive blessings, as hundreds have volunteered to serve as temple workers and many others have reached out to local priesthood leaders to renew temple recommends.

‘Every effort was worth it’

President Daniel J. Ribeiro, president of the Belo Horizonte Brazil West Stake, recalled the long journeys to São Paulo and Campinas to participate in ordinances and serve in the houses of the Lord.

“We often traveled through the night with our children, spent the entire day at the temple and returned home at the end of the day,” he said. “Although it required sacrifice, those experiences strengthened our faith and helped us better understand the importance of putting the Lord first.”

And now, the Ribeiros will have a temple just 20 minutes from their home. “We are deeply grateful for this gift. Looking back, we realize that every effort was worth it. The example of serving and worshipping in the temple helped establish a legacy of faith in our family and planted a love for the house of the Lord in our children’s hearts.”

And it stemmed from the family’s tradition to start their vacations by visiting a temple, said his wife, Gardênia Ribeiro. “No matter where we were, we wanted our children to know that worshipping the Lord and making covenants with Him was a priority in our lives. These experiences strengthened our faith and created sacred memories that we will cherish forever. Today, seeing our children love the temple is one of the greatest joys of my heart.”

And having a temple in her own city deepens her gratitude to Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, she added. “It is an extraordinary blessing for our family and for all the Saints in Minas Gerais. The temple draws us closer to the Savior and reminds us of the eternal promises we receive through His covenants.”

More about the temple and the Church in Belo Horizonte

A single-story structure of 2,665 square meters (28,685 square feet), the Belo Horizonte temple is made of precast concrete, with structural steel peaking over the celestial room. The exterior is clad in Branco Ceará, a Brazilian granite. Across the 6-acre grounds, plaza areas feature traditional black-and-white Portuguese-style stone paving.

Inside the edifice, designs draw inspiration from local Portuguese tile patterns, with geometric and floral motifs reflecting regional cultural influences. Art-glass windows, inspired by traditional Portuguese tile patterns common in Minas Gerais, display white, yellow and various shades of blue.

The Church’s first congregation in Belo Horizonte was created in 1959 — a branch organized with just 11 members. Today, the Church counts four vibrant stakes headquartered in the Belo Horizonte metro area, with other stakes found in the temple district’s states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo.

On Monday evening, Aug. 17 — a day after the temple dedication — the Church will be honored by the city of Belo Horizonte. The mayor and municipal council will host local leaders and members of the Church, acknowledging both the new temple in Belo Horizonte and the service and humanitarian efforts the Church has provided in the city.

The city’s mayor and state’s governor were among the more than 1,300 government officials, religious leaders, journalists and other special guests that visited the Belo Horizonte temple in the days leading up to the public open house that drew nearly 20,000. That total included more than 1,500 the first day of public tours and more than 3,500 on the final Saturday.

More about temples and the Church in Brazil

Brazil has 24 temples in various stages. Others of the country’s 12 dedicated temples — besides Belo Horizonte, São Paulo and Campinas — are the Belém, Brasília, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador temples.

Five Brazil temples are currently under construction: the João Pessoa, Londrina, Natal, Ribeirão Preto and Teresina temples.

That leaves seven in planning stages, for Campo Grande, Florianópolis, Goiânia, Maceió, Santos, São Paulo East and Vitória. The latter — Vitória — is the capital of the state of Espírito Santo and in the Belo Horizonte temple district.

Latter-day Saint missionaries began preaching in southern Brazil in 1928. By the time the São Paulo Brazil Temple was dedicated in 1978, membership in the country had reached 54,000.

Belo Horizonte Brazil Temple

Address: Rua Professor José Vieira de Mendonça, 1485 — Engenho Nogueira, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 31310-­260

Announced: April 4, 2021, by President Russell M. Nelson

Groundbreaking: June 17, 2023, presided over by Elder Juan A. Uceda, a General Authority Seventy

Public open house: June 13-27, 2026, excluding Sundays

Dedicated: Aug. 16, 2026, by President Dallin H. Oaks, President of the Church

Property size: 2.44 hectares (6.03 acres)

Building size: 2,665 square meters (28,685 square feet)

Building height: 19 meters (62 feet) to the top of the tower