President Thomas S. Monson said today that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hopes to build its first temple in France on property on the outskirts of Paris.
Customarily, new temples are announced by the president of the Church at one of the Church's general conferences, after local government building approvals and property acquisition have been secured. Although the local government approval process for the French temple is still under way, French newspapers were already reporting Church plans to build at Le Chesnay, near Versailles, and this prompted today's announcement.
Church spokesman Scott Trotter said that the Church has been working for many months with local officials. More details will be given later.
There have been several previous attempts to find a suitable site for a French temple, but none were finalized. French members of the Church wishing to visit a temple usually travel to those in neighboring European countries.
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