Similar to other groundbreakings announced during the COVID-19 pandemic, upcoming groundbreaking ceremonies are invitation-only events without a specific date and will adhere to local government social-distancing guidelines.

While pandemic precautions and social-distancing restrictions have put temple open houses and dedications on hold — along with the total closure of all temples and their deliberate and phased reopenings — temple construction and renovation efforts continue worldwide.

All but three of the 21 — the Alabang Philippines, Brasília Brazil and Harare Zimbabwe temples — were announced by President Russell M. Nelson in one of the past six general conferences during his three-year tenure as President of the Church.

Groundbreakings in 2020 will have occurred in six states of the United States and in 10 other nations across five continents. That includes two each in the Philippines and Argentina and four in the state of Utah.

Currently, the Church has 168 dedicated temples — with eight of them closed for major renovations. If one adds in the 23 under construction or the 40 announced and in various planning and design stages, the Church’s total is 231 temples overall.

The 23 temples under construction include the Winnipeg Manitoba and Rio de Janeiro Brazil temples — a pair that are all but completed and have had scheduled open houses and dedications postponed because of the global COVID-19 pandemic — and the Moses Lake Washington Temple, with its October 10 groundbreaking the most recent.

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2020 temple groundbreakings
Map shows the locations of temple groundbreakings from 2020. Graphic courtesy of Church News.Copyright 2020 Deseret News Publishing Company.
                          

Copyright 2020 Deseret News Publishing Company