North Pole Mission
The North Pole Mission (Praefectura Apostolica Poli Arctici) was a Catholic Apostolic Prefecture that was established in 1855 for the purpose of missionary work . This should take place above all in areas north of the Arctic Circle ; but other areas were also added. The area of activity therefore included:
- Norway and Sweden north of the Arctic Circle
- Kola ( Murmansk Oblast )
- Iceland
- Greenland
- Faroe Islands
- the Arctic North of Baffin Bay to Melville Iceland
- Shetland Islands
- Orkney Islands
- Caithness in Scotland
The establishment of the prefecture was carried out on December 8th, 1855 by the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide ( Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith , since 1967 as the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples ) in a decree by the Prefect Giacomo Filippo Cardinal Fransoni . Its first leader was Count Paul Marie Etienne de Djunkovskij (1821–1870), born in St. Petersburg , from 1855 to 1861. After Djunkovskij's resignation, his Vice-Prefect, the French Catholic priest Bernard Bernard (1821–1895), was appointed on 20 April 1862 appointed Apostolic Prefect for the North Pole Mission. He had already been entrusted with the administration of the prefecture on December 15 of the previous year. He was one of Djunkovsky's first team and had done a very commendable job of the mission by setting up mission stations in Iceland and in Wick, Caithness.
At a new meeting of the Propaganda Congregation on April 19, 1869, the reorganization of the Nordic missions was discussed again, and it was decided to abolish the North Pole Mission entirely and to assign its various parts to the ecclesiastical administrative districts of those countries to which they politically belonged. On May 2, this decision was made by Pope Pius IX. approved. In the papal brief of August 17, the establishment of the Apostolic Prefecture Norway with the Norwegian Lapland was confirmed, the first director of which was Bernard. The Apostolic Prefecture of Denmark was expanded to include the whole of the Kingdom, including Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The North American parts of the North Pole Mission came back to Canada. The Scottish parts, Shetland, the Orkney Islands and Caithness were reassigned to the Vicariate Apostolic of Northern Scotland .
Individual churches that were established during the North Pole Mission still exist, such as the St. Mikael (St. Michael) church in Hammerfest .
See also
literature
- Karl Kjelstrup: Norvegia catholica: Moderkirkens gjenreisning i Norge, Et tilbakeblikk i anledning av 100-års minnet for opprettelsen av St. Olavs menighet i Oslo, 1843-1943. Oslo 1942.
- Vera Henriksen [et al.]: Den Katolske kirke i Norge: fra kristningen til i dag. Oslo 1993.
- Alois Arnstein Brodersen: The North Pole Mission. A contribution to the history of Catholic missions in the Nordic countries in the 19th century. Munster 2006.