John Willem Gran

John Willem Nicolaysen Gran OCSO (born April 5, 1920 in Bergen , † March 20, 2008 in Paris ) was Roman Catholic Bishop of Oslo from 1964 to 1983.

Life

Gran converted to Catholicism in 1941 . He did his military service during the Second World War, first in London , then in Norway, including in the Akershus fortress . Between 1946 and 1947 he worked as an assistant director for Norwegian film. In 1949, however, he entered the Trappist Monastery of Caldey Island and was ordained a priest there on May 21, 1957 . Two years later he was sent to Rome to study theology . In 1962 he was appointed by Pope John XXIII. appointed coadjutor bishop with succession right in Oslo and titular bishop of Raphia . He was ordained bishop on March 24, 1963 by his predecessor Jacob Mangers ; Co- consecrators were Johannes Theodor Suhr , Bishop of Copenhagen, and Johann Wember , Vicar Apostolic of Northern Norway. In 1983, his resignation was granted by John Paul II .

He was the only Norwegian participant in Vatican II . Bishop Gran was chairman of the Nordic Bishops' Conference from 1978 to 1986 .

A Hand on My Shoulder: Memoirs of John Willem Gran: Set of Two. Cistercian Publ. 2004, ISBN 0879073535 .
A Hand on My Shoulder: Monk and Bishop. Cistercian Publ. 2004, ISBN 0879073411 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Jacob Mangers SM	Bishop of Oslo 1964–1983	Gerhard Schwenzer SSCC

personal data
SURNAME	Gran, John Willem
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Gran, John Willem Nicolaysen OCSO (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Norwegian religious, Catholic bishop of Oslo
DATE OF BIRTH	April 5, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH	Mountains
DATE OF DEATH	March 20, 2008
Place of death	Paris