The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released the location of the Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple on December 19, 2023.
The Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple will be built on a 4.9-acre site at Lot 2163-c and Lot 2163-d Rosario Limketkai Avenue, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental.
Plans for the Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple call for a two-story structure of approximately 18,449 square feet (1,714 square meters). An ancillary building will also be constructed, including an arrival center, patron housing and distribution center.
Cagayan de Oro City is located in Northern Mindanao, Philippines, with an estimated population of over 800,000. President Russell M. Nelson announced the Cagayan de Oro Temple in April 2018.
After construction, the Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple will be the second temple in Mindanao, the second-largest island in the southern part of the Philippines. The Davao Philippines Temple, announced on October 7, 2018, is under construction after its groundbreaking ceremony on November 14, 2020.
Thirteen temples are either announced, under construction, or in operation in the Philippines: Alabang, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu City, Davao, Iloilo, Laoag, Manila, Naga, Santiago, Tacloban City, Tuguegarao City, and Urdaneta.
The first temple in the Philippines, the Manila Philippines Temple, was dedicated in 1984 by former Church President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008).
More than 850,000 Latter-day Saints are in approximately 1,275 congregations in the Philippines. The preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ began in 1961 in the country where Church growth has been among the fastest in the world.
Detailed design plans for the Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple are still being developed. Further information, such as exterior renderings and groundbreaking dates, will be announced later. Project leaders continue to work with local officials on preliminary plans for the temples in preparation for construction activities.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consider temples to be the “house of the Lord” and the most sacred places of worship on the earth. Temples differ from the Church’s meetinghouses or chapels. All are welcome to attend Sunday worship services and other weekday activities at local meetinghouses. The primary purpose of temples, however, is for faithful members of the Church to participate in sacred ceremonies such as marriages that unite families forever.