This "Mortal Moroni" statue in Manti used to be in a small park west of the Manti Temple, from 1983 to about 2010. Why was it removed and where is it now? (Photograph is from Pinterest.)
HAVE you ever heard of any statues disappearing over the decades in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
Statues of Joseph and Hyrum Smith sat originally in two alcoves (starting in 1893) on the east side of the Salt Lake Temple, along the entrance steps. Those statues are not there now, but they were simply relocated to another location on Temple Square, some decades later.
However, take Manti, Utah.
From 1983 to about 2010, there was a 9-foot-tall bronze statue of Moroni, from the Book of Mormon, sitting in a small "meditation garden," west of the Manti Temple. This statue was not the Angel Moroni, as atop many temples, but rather this was a unique version of the Scriptural character, as in "Mortal Moroni."
"Unveiling Saturday for 'Mortal Moroni' statue" was a July 14, 1983 headline in the Manti Messenger newspaper.
Seed money by the late R. Clair Anderson started the project to create a bronze representation of Moroni, in his final years of mortal life. (He is shown holding a box of gold plates in the statue representation.)
None other than Dr. Avard Fairbanks created this one-of-a-kind Moroni statue. (Fairbanks produced more than 100 sculptures during his long career, including the Three Witnesses, Tragedy at Winter Quarters and several Angel Moroni statues atop temples.)
The "Mortal" title was used to distinguish the statue from the Angel Moroni statues that grace the top of some temples.
According to some Manti residents, the Mortal Moroni statue was removed from the site about 2010 and no one seems to know exactly where it went. Speculation is that it was moved to a church warehouse in Salt Lake City.
Why was statue removed? No one in Manti appears to know for sure, but the area where it was located was being renovated at the time of the state's removal and expanded into today's "Pioneer Heritage Gardens," that opened in June of 2012.
Some Manti residents believe the Church had been questioning the accuracy of a lone, second-hand historical account that states that Moroni wandered the continent in his final years and dedicated various future temple sites, including the Manti Temple site. Thus, is this account accurate?
Notwithstanding, the cost of the "Mortal Moroni" statue may have been at least $12,000 and some Manti residents said they or family members dedicated to that fund. back in the early 1980s. These residents maintained that no church funds were used in the creation of the statue either.
Even the Angel Moroni statue atop temples has come into restrictions. No temple announced after 2019 will have such an angel atop it. This change comes as the Church strives to stress Jesus Christ more and less for other, even prominent scriptural characters, like Moroni.
(The Author only found out about this Moroni statue in about 2015, when he was contacted by some Church members in Manti, who were concerned that a possible, future renovation of the Manti Temple would lead to a loss of many interior pioneer era features and paintings. They knew what the Logan Temple lost during a 1970s renovation and feared the worst. They also mentioned the loss of the "Mortal Moroni" statue and how bewildered they were on that removal. Since the Author had first visited the Manti Temple area in 1981 and not again until 2021, he had never seen the unique Mortal Moroni statue. The Manti Temple was remodeled from 2021 to 2024 and didn't end up losing most of what local Church members feared it would.)
This is another view of the park that is west of the Manti Temple.
According to an article by H. Donl Peterson of the BYU Religious Studies Center (and in "Life of Heber C. Kimball," by Orson F. Whitney, Salt Lake City, Bookcraft, 1967):
"At a conference held in Ephraim, Sanpete County, June 25th, 1875, nearly all the speakers expressed their feelings to have a temple built in Sanpete County, and gave their views as to what point and where to build it, and to show the union that existed, Elder Daniel H. Wells said “Manti,” George Q. Cannon, Brigham Young, Jr., John Taylor, Orson Hyde, Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Richards, Lorenzo Young, and A.M. Musse said “Manti stone quarry.” I have given the names in the order in which they spoke. At 4 p.m. that day President Brigham Young said: 'The Temple should be build on Manti stone quarry.' Early on the morning of April 25, 1877, President Brigham Young asked Brother Warren S. Snow to go with him to the Temple hill. Brother Snow says: 'We two were alone: President Young took me to the spot where the Temple was to stand; we went to the southeast corner, and President Young said: 'Here is the spot where the prophet Moroni stood and dedicated this piece of land for a Temple site, and that is the reason why the location is made here, and we can’t move it from this spot; and if you and I are the only persons that come here at high noon today, we will dedicate this ground.'”
That's the lone reference for Moroni dedicating the Manti Temple site.
Sometimes Church officials frown on historical accounts that rely on a single reference and so that may be the reason for the statue's removal?
NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.
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