Hello again, everyone! Several weeks after the December 28 on temple reopenings, one major update has been announced today. In addition to the updated Church News article, the Newsroom has also shared the updates, which are likewise reflected in the temple reopening status tracker. This post will explore that update and what that means for temples worldwide.
This week's major update is that the San Jose Costa Rica Temple, which moved to phase 2-B earlier this month, will transition to phase 3 as soon as next Tuesday (February 1). As a result of this change, 167 of the Church's 170 temples will be in phase 3, which allows those temples to provide living ordinances in priority order and limited proxy work as scheduled.
The Church News incorrectly notes that 166 of the 170 temples are open, but that article failed to take the situation of the Medford Oregon Temple into account. That requires some additional context: The Church News incorrectly lists the Medford Oregon Temple in phase 2-B, but that is not technically correct. That temple, originally announced to transition to phase 3 in August, closed not long after its' anticipated phase 3 transition for what the Church News incorrectly terms "extended maintenance", while the Newsroom and the Church's official page for that temple indicate it is closed for renovation.
As recently mentioned, the temple's renovation may be minor, with the labor carried out by Church members rather than a construction crew including friends of other faiths, so there may be no need for the Church to publicly or privately rededicate that temple. That being said, the page for Medford also indicates that the temple has been granted a phase 3 designation, which allows those in the Medford temple district to schedule living ordinances and proxy work at the nearest temples open in phase 3.
That's an update we haven't had before. As a result, while the Church News asserts that 97.6% of temples are in phase 3, the correct percentage should be 98.2%.No temples have currently transitioned to phase 4 (a full return to regular operations). But the good news is that, as COVID-19 conditions inprove in various parts of the world, the number of appointments scheduled for proxy work is gradually going to be able to increase.
As a result of this transition for the San Jose Costa Rica Temple, that leaves 2 temples in phase 2-B, which allows living ordinances in priority order and proxy baptisms. So that means that, with all but 1 temple (Suva Fiji) offering limited proxy work, 99.4% of those 170 temples are now in phase 2-B or phase 3. So while the Church News incorrectly notes that 3 temples are in phase 2-B, there are only 2 temples still in phase 2-B: Barranquilla Colombia and Seoul Korea (neither of which have been announced for a phase 3 reopening in the near term).
So this means that 9 temples are closed for renovation, with all 9 granted phase 3 status. 1 has been "paused" in phase 3, with 1 more in phase 1, and 0 in phase 2. With 2 temples in phase 2-B, the remaining 158 are in phase 3. I continue to be impressed by the inspired way in which the Church cautiously coordinates temple reopenings. The announcements on that, which may now come more sporadically than they have in the past, are wonderful to hear, and I'm grateful to have passed this news on to you all here.
For my part, I continue to monitor all other major Church news updates and temple developments and will do my best to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware thereof. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines.Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.
