After half a century of secrecy, this mysterious building in the American capital and its region invites the public to discover its prestigious and symbolic interior.
As if straight out of a science fiction novel with its six golden spiers and pristine white mantle, the Mormon Temple in Washington has intrigued those who see it but never get to enter it for decades. Their curiosity will soon be satisfied: for the first time in nearly half a century, it will open its doors to the public.
The building, one of the most mysterious in the American capital and its region, is usually only accessible to members of the very conservative Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for whom family, chastity and mission work are cardinal values. Something to feed the fantasies. “People think what we do inside is a secret. But as you have seen today, it is only sacred. Very sacred to us”Kevin Duncan, a senior Church official, told AFP.
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On Monday, during a day of presentation to the media, the temple welcomed non-Mormons for the first time since 1974, when it was dedicated. The opportunity to discover its hushed interior, both refined and luxurious with its thick carpets and gilding, where dust does not seem to exist and where you only enter after having put on white slippers. The last time the temple opened to the public, 48 years ago, Gerald Ford was president of the United States and 750,000 people, according to the Church, had thronged Kensington Hill in Maryland. very close to Washington, where it was built. Among them, the First Lady, Betty Ford. The temple closed in 2018 for renovations and was due to reopen in 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the schedule.
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Baptisms for the dead
Future visitors must reserve free tickets to be able to come to the site from the end of April to the beginning of June. They will be able to discover the rituals of the Church, where as soon as they enter what they consider to be one of the most sacred places on Earth, the members abandon their street clothes to dress in white. “A reset of the counters, a symbol of equality, of purity”, told AFP David Bednar, one of the twelve apostles of the Church, who came from Utah for the occasion. The curious can also visit the baptistery, where a small pool is placed on the back of twelve life-size white marble bulls representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Mormon specificity, the baptisms by immersion which take place in the temple are reserved… for the dead.
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The Church indeed allows its flock to be baptized in the name of one of their ancestors. It is up to the souls of the latter, if they exist, and the Church firmly believes in it, to accept or not this “present”. Ordinary baptisms take place in other buildings. Among the many other rooms in this multi-storey temple are the “sealing chambers”where are celebrated (“sealed”) weddings around a white marble altar padded with beige velvet.
Unions concluded exclusively between a man and a woman, and which are intended to last not only throughout life, but also after death, because “the family is essential in the plan” divine, explains David Bednar. Parents and children can also come “seal” their bonds for eternity during a ceremony in these same rooms. The Church says it expects to welcome several hundred thousand visitors during its open house.