New Temples Announced in October 2023 - Part I: Asia

Due to the large number of temples announced today, I will be separating my analysis of new temple announcements into separate blog posts by world region.

Laoag Philippines Temple

The Laoag Philippines Temple will be the Church's 13th temple in the Philippines following temples in Manila (dedicated in 1984), Cebu (dedicated in 2010), Urdaneta (announced in 2010), Alabang (announced in 2017), Cagayan de Oro (announced in 2018), Davao (announced in 2018), Bacolod City (announced in 2019), Tacloban City (announced in 2021), Naga (announced in October 2022),  Santiago (announced in October 2022), Tuguegarao City (announced in April 2023), and Iloilo (announced in April 2023). The Philippines is the country with the fewest completed temples (2) with the most temples announced or under construction (11). The new temple will likely have one of the smallest temple districts in the Philippines, as there are only four stakes and two districts that appear likely to be assigned to the new temple (only the Tuguegarao Philippines Temple has a smaller prospective temple district with three stakes and two districts). Travel in the Philippines is often costly and time-consuming which has likely played a role with the announcement of temples in locations with few stakes like Laoag. The Church has operated a stake in Laoag since 1989 and created the Philippines Laoag Mission in 2004. The newest stake to be created in the Laoag area was in Vigan in 2021. There are approximately 850,000 Latter-day Saints in the Philippines organized into 126 stakes and 55 districts. 

Osaka Japan Temple

The Osaka Japan Temple will be the Church's fifth temple in Japan following the Tokyo Japan Temple (dedicated in 1980), the Fukuoka Japan Temple (dedicated in 2000), the Sapporo Japan Temple (dedicated in 2016), and the Okinawa Japan Temple (scheduled for dedication in November 2023). The new temple will probably service six stakes and two districts in southern Honshu and Shikoku. The Osaka Japan Stake was organized in 1972 and the area is serviced by the Japan Kobe Mission. The Church has experienced two significant iterations of consolidating stakes and congregations in the Osaka area during the past 25 years. Today, there is only one stake in Osaka, whereas there used to be four stakes in Osaka in the 1990s. I have considered Osaka as a more likely location for a temple announcement due to distance to Tokyo and several stakes in the Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe metropolitan area. The Church in Japan has experienced essentially stagnant membership growth in recent years, and there are currently approximately 130,000 Latter-day Saints in Japan. 

Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Temple

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia has been on my short list of likely locations to have a temple announced for many years. The new temple will be the Church's first temple in Mongolia. Prior to today's announcement, Mongolia ranked as the country with the second most Latter-day Saints without a temple. There were approximately 12,500 Latter-day Saints in Mongolia as of year-end 2022. The Church in Mongolia is extremely far away from the nearest temples in Seoul, South Korea; Taipei, Taiwan; and Hong Kong, China. The new temple will be one of the most remote temples in the world once completed. The Church first established a branch in Mongolia in 1993 and experienced rapid growth during the 1990s and 2000s. There are now two stakes in Ulaanbaatar which were organized in 2009 and 2016. One district also operates in Darkhan. Slow membership growth and stagnant congregational growth have occurred during the past decade. Mongolia has one of the highest percentages of Latter-day Saints in the general population among Asian nations, as 0.37% of the Mongolian population was a Latter-day Saint as of year-end 2022 (one Latter-day Saint per 272 people). The new temple will service the two stakes and one district in Mongolia, and it may also service branches and one district in Siberia and the Russian Far East.