After driving through the busy streets filled with people, bicycles and cars, we turned a corner and found ourselves at the Colosseum, built by thousands of Jewish slaves only 84 years after Christ’s crucifixion (a fact I did not know). It is immense and grand with the additional fingerprints of others, who recognized the importance of this iconic structure and worked to make sure it survived. In its "glory days" the Colosseum had a seating capacity of 50-80,000 (average attendance was 65,000). In 2018, the Colosseum was the most popular tourist attraction in the world - with more than 7.4 million visitors. It was an incredible experience just to stand in front of it for a picture!!!
From there we visited the Basilica of St. Clement, another of the dozens of churches, cathedrals, and basilicas we have seen in our travels, but this one was unique. Coming in off the street – up the hill and about 2 blocks from the Colosseum - we were in the chapel of the present basilica. From there we descended to another level, where we found a 4thcentury basilica … and at still another level down, we found ourselves in the remains of an earlier, 1stcentury building. In 1912-14, excavation discovered yet a 4thlevel containing the remains of other buildings, apparently destroyed by the fire of Nero in 64 A.D. (“Nero fiddled while Rome burned”). It was fascinating … and a whole lot cooler than downtown Rome on a late June day!
Our final destination – the one we had all been waiting for – was our visit to the Rome Temple. Unlike most of the places we have visited in Italy, the grounds were immaculate and the atmosphere was wonderfully peaceful without all the noise and confusion everywhere else we've been in Italy. The temple is majestic and like almost all the other 162+ temples in the world, is perched high on a hilltop and can be seen from quite a distance.
The visitor center was remarkable, with a display of the 11 ancient apostles (the 12th figure is Paul, the beloved disciple of Christ ... also an Apostle, but not one of the original twelve). They were half-sized compared to those at the Vatican, but the Christus is said to be 7 times life-sized. There is also a FABULOUS stained-glass diorama, entitled “Come Unto Me,” featuring all of Christ’s parables which the missionaries say has brought many Bible scholars to the gospel.
A little history behind the Church in Italy and the Rome Temple:
· Missionaries first arrived in Italy in 1850. In 1993, 50 church missionaries were invited to form a choir to sing on Vatican radio. A temple in Rome was announced by President Thomas S. Monson in October 2008 General Conference – to which there was an audible gasp by the congregation and which rippled through the entire Church. The temple is sadly, underused in this part of the world, but I have no doubt President Monson saw a huge future for the Church – and the temple – in Italy.
· In 2012, the LDS Church was granted “official status” and was named a “partner of the state”! Today there are 27,200+ members in 10 stakes , which is a really big deal because, in order to become a stake there must be a strong priesthood presence to administer the ordinances and manage the affairs of the local Church. The designation of 1 stake is a big deal … to have 10 stakes is amazing! And, there are two missions in Italy.
During our afternoon at the Rome Temple, we were proxy for 10 sealings of husbands and wives (all our family names), 10 sealings of girls to their parents, then also helped seal another 10 boys to their parents and 3 marriage sealings … and all of it was done in Italian. Still, we are assured there were many happy people on the “other side” who can be together forever through these saving ordinances.
Side note: The three priesthood holders who officiated spoke extremely limited English … and 3 of the names they were trying to pronounce were my German uncles and many of the names were clearly not Italian … such as Pheraby Godwin, Hattie Hedwig Peipus, Adeline, Aurelia, Missouri, and Ira Sankey. In short, it was somewhat comical to hear an Italian officiator struggling to manage the names of my Werner family and who-knows-what-else names.
Another side note: We came out of the temple and were met by some of the other 52 members who were with us, who said, “Utah Governor Gary Herbert is on the grounds!” Gary Herbert is a Rotarian (Provo Club) and was the Lt. Governor who oversaw Volunteer Centers in the state when I was still at the VC of Washington County. In short, he was at one time my boss so I had no hesitation in walking up to him to say hi. It was a serendipitous experience, and proves once again, it’s a very small world in the Church.
In all, this was probably the most memorable day of our visit in Italy. Loved it!!!
PS: On Saturday we took a train ride to Tivoli, a small town outside of Rome where we toured Villa d'Este, a 500-year-old estate which is on the United Nations World Heritage list. Later, our lunch was interrupted by the roar of car engines and before long the plaza was filled with Ferraris, Maseratis, Rolls Royces, Porsches on a road tour between Rome and Budapest ... and lots of people!
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