One other comparison: there are 22,000 Latter-day Saints in Italy alone, with quite a few more in surrounding countries in southeastern Europe and Asia Minor (and the Middle East, as per your comment), who will all be able to attend the Rome temple rather than those in mainland Europe or Ukraine. When we have 20,000+ members in the Middle East, then we might expect the Church to seek to build a temple somewhere there. ..bruce..

You’re right that Qatar is probably the most likely choice for an Islamic country allowing an LDS temple, as it provides a level of religious freedom — including recognition of Christian religions — not found in most Islamic countries.

But in most of the other countries you list, there are constraints (sometimes severe) on non-Islamic religions, not just in terms of proselyting, but in terms of actual religious worship. Israel does not constrain Christian worship but does constrain Christian proselyting (this was a major issue when the LDS Church was building the BYU Jerusalem Studies center; the Church had to make absolute commitments not to proselyte within Israel).

Interestingly, a stable Iraq may be the Church’s best bet to gain a foothold for active proselyting within the Middle East. If Lebanon ever settles down, the Church could return there as well (I had a college professor at BYU who served his mission in Beirut in the 1960s).

Still, it is unlikely that LDS membership in the Middle East will reach levels that can support a temple anytime soon. IMHO. ..bruce..

At the risk of underscoring my old fart status, when I left on my mission in 1972, there were only 15 operating temples in the entire world, and only three were outside of the United States (Canada, England, Switzerland). The concept of there ever being a temple in Rome — the same city as the Vatican — would have been seen either as a sign of the last days or something that would likely not happen until the Millennium.

I said that the only announcement that would startle me more is that of the Beijing Temple. That’s not quite true: the first LDS temple built in a dominantly Islamic country will be a remarkable milestone, and I don’t expect to see that for a few decades. ..bruce..