History Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints In France

John Taylor , who later became the third President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints arrived June 18th 1850 at the seaport of Boulogne-sur-Mer on the Steamer Emerald with his two colleagues and William Curtis Bolton Howells ^{XIX century}

Political instability creates frequent crises that hinder the work of early missionaries. When in 1852 , Napoleon III overthrows the Second Republic , John Taylor is forced to leave France, though not without having supervised the translation of the Book of Mormon for the first time in French. Then in 1899 , missionaries missions Belgo-Dutch and German-Swiss come to evangelize among the French, Swiss and Belgians. In 1912 , the French mission was formally organized. The First World War forced the missionaries to evacuate the territory, and the mission is closed 30 August 1914. It will again be open 5 years after the armistice of 1918.

XX ^century

In 1936 , the missionaries were withdrawn from France as and when they complete their mission because of the economic crisis that has paralyzed the United States. In 1939 , following the declaration of war, they were ordered to return to their consulate in the United States. 21 missionaries gather in Valencia and the other in Paris. A holder of the Melchizedek priesthood then exercises his priesthood in France: Leon Fargier of Valencia. Paris , Lyon , Grenoble , St-Diez, Besanon , Montpellier , Saint-Etienne , Valence , Tarbes , Nimes and Saint-Florent are the cities where members are not held since without priesthood. In this year 1939, the city of Grenoble has the largest number of members of the Church in France. In all cities, only the organization of the Relief Society Fargier remains with Leon as leader of priesthood. Throughout this period of World War II , he visits them every two months and it must cross the area occupied by the Germans .

His activities attracted the attention of the mainstream press. Monday ¹ July 1941 , Paris-Soir front-page headline: "Mr. Fargier, only Mormon pastor of the free zone has christened its fifteen parishioners in the local pool of Grenoble. "

In early 1945 , each member receives France's seat of the Church a parcel of clothes, food and vitamins. Each package also includes address Fargier Leon as leader of the Church. Unfortunately, these packages are subject to a tariff of 30 000 old francs each. Leon Fargier then wrote to the Minister of Finance stating the contents of parcels and ownership of their recipients at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Following this letter, the parcels are exempt from all customs fees and distributed to church members.

In 1946 , after the war, a new mission president arrives with 16 missionaries who are divided into small groups of existing members. Local units are reorganized. Fargier Leon becomes the district president for all of France until 1950 when the district was reorganized Lyon.

In 1955 , the Tabernacle Choir toured Europe and performed at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris. At the time, there are about 1500 members of the Church throughout the country.

Building the first house of worship in France will be completed in Bordeaux in 1965.

XXI ^century

In 2009 , the 1905 law on the separation of church and state under which the cult was organized by the legal regime of religious associations enter into force for the Church in France . There would be more than 34 000 members and 100 places of worship in France.

References

See also

Internal Links

• Mormon pioneers

External Links

• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 160 years of presence in France

• Portal Latter-day Saints
• Christianity portal