Roman Catholic Church in Iceland

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Roman Catholic Church in Iceland
Basic data
Country Iceland
Ecclesiastical province Immediate
Diocesan bishop David Tencer OFMCap
Emeritus diocesan bishop Pierre Bürcher
surface 103,000 km²
Parishes 8 (December 31, 2018)
Residents 341,400 (December 31, 2018)
Catholics 13,120 (December 31, 2018)
proportion of 3.8%
Diocesan priest 9 (December 31, 2018)
Religious priest 6 (December 31, 2018)
Catholics per priest 875
Friars 7 (December 31, 2018)
Religious sisters 29 (December 31, 2018)
rite Roman rite
Liturgical language Icelandic
cathedral Landakotskirkja
Website www.catholica.is

The Roman Catholic Church in Iceland is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church . It re-consolidated in the 19th and 20th centuries after it had practically no longer existed in Iceland since the Reformation .

According to the papal yearbook Annuario Pontificio 2004 , the diocese of Reykjavík ( Icelandic Reykjavíkurbiskupsdæmi ), which encompasses all of Iceland, looked after a total of 6,451 Catholics among a total of 288,201 Icelanders. There are 8 parishes .

Coat of arms of the Reykjavík diocese

history

After the Christianization of Iceland around the year 1000 there were the two bishoprics Skálholt (since 1056) and Hólar (since 1106). They were initially under the Archdiocese of Bremen - like Scandinavia as a whole - from 1104 to the Diocese of Lund and from 1152 to the Archdiocese of Trondheim . In 1056 Ísleifur Gissurarson was ordained the first bishop of Iceland and Greenland by Archbishop Adalbert of Bremen .

During the Reformation these dioceses were dissolved from Rome and the Lutheran teaching introduced. As early as 1536 Christian III. Denmark enforced the Evangelical Lutheran religion for his country, Norway and the Faroe Islands . He benefited from this, as he was now the head of the church himself and was thus able to dispose of the wealth and goods of the church.

When the bishopric of Skálholt became vacant in the year, he hastened to install a Protestant here, who ensured the rapid spread of the Protestant religion. However, the Catholic bishop Jón Arason on Hólar opposed this . Thanks to extensive popular support, he managed to win back many parishes for the Catholic faith. He called on his compatriots to resist the Danes and the Reformation, if necessary with weapons. In the end, however, he could not hold out against the power of the king. He was betrayed and fell into the hands of the Danes. In 1550 Jón Arason was executed with two of his sons in Skálholt.

Map of the Icelandic bishoprics and monasteries in the Middle Ages by Alexander Baumgartner

It was not until 300 years later, as part of the Catholic North Pole Mission ( Praefectura Apostolica Poli Arctici ) from 1855 to 1869, that Catholic priests set foot on Icelandic soil again. The two French Bernard Bernard (1821–1895) and Jean-Baptiste Baudoin (1831–1875) reached Iceland in 1857 (Bernard) and 1858 (Baudoin) and there acquired the Landakot estate near Reykjavík in 1859 , whereupon they finally had a small one in 1864 Built chapel. All in all, they and their project had a more than problematic status: while Bernard left the country in 1862, Baudoin stayed until 1875, but without any major successes.

At that time, however, the North Pole Mission no longer existed. When it was abolished in 1869, the Icelandic Mission came to the Apostolic Prefecture of Denmark , which was promoted to the Apostolic Vicariate in 1892 . After Baudoin's death, there was no resident priest in Iceland for 20 years. Only once a year did a priest come from Denmark to administer the sacraments to the few Catholics. Not until 1896 was a Catholic mission established again, this time from Denmark, on Landakot, the old property of the North Pole Mission.

On June 12, 1923, an Apostolic Prefecture was established in Iceland. This was raised in 1929 to the Apostolic Vicariate. The first bishop was Martin Meulenberg , a born Rhinelander. In 1932 Iceland had 218 Catholics, 2 mission stations, 4 priests and 2 lay brothers and 30 Joseph Sisters of Chambéry.

On October 18, 1968, the Vicariate Apostolic was elevated to a diocese. The Diocese of Reykjavík, which included two parishes when it was founded, is directly subordinate to the Holy See ( Immediat ). On January 14, 1984, Pope John Paul II confirmed Þorlákur Þórhallsson as the patron saint of Iceland. The most recent highlight was the Pope's visit by John Paul II in 1989.

From 1998 to 2000 the church of St. Peter was built in Akureyri through renovation of a house.

The fifth parish in Iceland was founded on July 28, 2007, St. Thorlák in Reyðarfjörður in eastern Iceland, which got a new church in 2017. The seat of the parish, numbering around 600 Catholics, is to be relocated to Egilsstaðir , 32 km away , where a community center with a chapel (50 seats) is under construction. The chapel was consecrated at the end of 2009. As the sixth parish, St. John Paul II was founded in Keflavík in September 2014 and the parish church of the same name was consecrated on September 21, 2014. Also in Selfoss in the south of Iceland the construction of a church with 100 seats and a parish center is planned for the near future. Construction began in 2015.

In 2015, 13,000 (3.6%) of the population of Iceland were Roman Catholics, with a clear upward trend, so Iceland has the highest proportion of Catholics of all Scandinavian countries, the majority of which are Catholic immigrants, especially from Poland and the Philippines, as well as other Catholics Countries of origin. Only around 2,000 Catholics were born in Iceland.

The Holy See has had a diplomatic mission in Iceland since 1976 . Apostolic Nuncio has been Archbishop James Patrick Green since April 6, 2017 .

Apostolic Prefect of Iceland

Vicars Apostolic of Iceland

Coat of arms of Bishop David Tencer, OFMCap.

Bishops of Reykjavík

Church newspaper

The church newspaper Kaþolska Kirkjublaðið has been published six times a year since 1990 .

Diocese structure, church buildings and church institutions

Parishes

The diocese is divided into eight parishes:

Kristskonungssókn (Christ the King)

Reykjavík Cathedral

The parish of Kristskonungssókn in the Icelandic capital Reykjavík is the bishopric and mother parish of the diocese. The parish was founded in 1860 as a mission station and has the patronage of Christ the King . With the establishment of new parishes, their size decreased. Your parish church is the Krists Konungs (Christ the King) Cathedral, consecrated in 1929, on Landakot in Reykjavík. It is the largest Catholic church in Iceland and has been the only church in Scandinavia to have had the title of basilica ( Basilica minor ) since 1999 .

Sókn hl. Frans frá Assisi (St. Francis of Assisi)

The parish of Sókn hl. Frans frá Assisi is located west of Iceland, it was founded on September 1st, 2018, making it the eighth and youngest parish in Iceland. Their patron saint is St. Francis of Assisi . Previously, their area belonged to the parish of Kristskonungssókn . Your parish church is the Kirkja hl. Frans frá Assisi or the Kapella Maríu meyjar, hinnar ævarandi hjálpar ( Chapel of Our Lady of Perpetual Help ), both in Stykkishólmur . Monthly services are also held in Akranes , Borgarnes , Grundarfjörður , Ólafsvík and Patreksfjörður. The parish is also home to the only pilgrimage site in Iceland, Maríulind near Hellnar on the Snæfellsnes peninsula. However, there is no church or chapel there, only a statue of the Virgin Mary standing outdoors. As early as 1929 or 1935, Franciscan Sisters settled in Stykkishólmur and built a church and a monastery, later also a hospital and a printing house. In 2009, sisters from the Order of the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin Mary of Matará from Argentina took over the monastery and the hospital is now run by the Icelandic state. The retreat, education and guest house Fransiskus-Hotel has been in the former hospital since 2016 , the only facility of its kind in Iceland.

Sókn hl. Jóhannesar postula (St. Apostle John)

St. Jóhannesarkirkja in Ísafjörður

The parish of Sókn hl. Jóhannesar postula covers the north-west of Iceland including Vestfirðir (Westfjords) and is named after the apostle John . It was only founded in 2016, but the first chapel was consecrated in Ísafjörður in 1989. Previously, their area belonged to the parish of Kristskonungssókn . Their parish church is St. Jóhannesarkirkja in Ísafjörður , but services are also held in Suðureyri .

St. Péturssókn (St. Peter)

St. Péturskirkja in Akureyri

The parish of St. Péturssókn is located in the north of Iceland and is named after the apostle Simon Peter . It was founded as a quasi- parish in 1953 and raised to a parish in 2000. Their parish church is St. Péturskirkja in Akureyri , which was established in a house built in 1912, which the Catholic Church acquired in 1952 and converted into a church from 1998 to 2000. In Akureyri there is also a Carmelite settlement with its own house chapel. Another chapel exists in Dalvík . Church services are held monthly in the villages of Blönduós , Húsavík and Sauðárkrókur .

St. Þorlákssókn (St. Thorlak)

St. Þorlákskirkja in Reyðarfjörður

The parish of St. Þorlákssókn roughly covers the Austurland region , and thus the east and south-east of Iceland, an area of ​​around 22,000 km². It was founded on July 28, 2007 as the fifth parish of the diocese and named after the Icelandic bishop Þorlákur Þórhallsson (German Thorlak Thorhallson ). It was founded after foreign workers had moved to the area in 2004 to build an aluminum plant and the necessary hydropower plant. Their parish church is St. Þorlákskirkja in Reyðarfjörður , where Capuchins from Slovakia work. The church is a donation from Catholics from Slovakia and was consecrated by Bishop David Tencer in June 2017. In Egilsstaðir , the largest city in eastern Iceland, there is the Corpus Christi chapel , consecrated on December 20, 2009 and named after the body of Christ . The chapel and the associated community center were created in 2009 through the renovation of a pharmacy. Another chapel, consecrated on September 7, 2013, exists in Höfn and is dedicated to the Holy Family and the Holy Pastor of Ars , Jean-Marie Vianney .

St. Maríusókn (St. Mary's)

The parish of St. Maríusókn is located in the south of Iceland, it was founded in 1985 and is named after St. Mary (mother of Jesus) . Your parish church is the Maríukirkja in Breiðholti, a district in the southeast of Reykjavík . It was put into operation on March 25, 1985 and finally inaugurated on May 24, 2001. Regular services are also held in a room rented for this purpose in Selfoss . There have been plans to build our own church with a community center in Selfoss for several years, but these have not yet been realized due to a lack of funding. Further services take place once a month in the Evangelical Lutheran churches of Hvolsvöllur , Þorlákshöfn and Vestmannaeyjar .

Sókn Heilags Jóhannesar Páls II (St. John Paul II.)

The parish Sókn Heilags Jóhannesar Páls II covers the southwest of Iceland including the Reykjanesskagi peninsula , it was founded in September 2014 and named after Pope Saint John Paul II , who was canonized that year. Before that, their area belonged to the parish of St. Jósefssókn . Their parish church is Kirkja , which was consecrated on September 21, 2014 for the sake of Jóhannesar Páls II in the town of Keflavík, part of the Reykjanesbær municipality . Pope John Paul II visited Iceland in 1989 and kissed Icelandic soil at Keflavík Airport , which is now part of the parish.

St. Jósefssókn (St. Joseph)

The parish of St. Jósefssókn is located in the west of Iceland and is named for St. Joseph of Nazareth . It was founded in 1926 and used to be considerably larger, including the Reykjanesskagi peninsula. Their parish church is St. Jósefskirkja in Hafnarfjörður . There is also a Carmelite monastery in Hafnarfjörður, in which nuns from Poland have lived since 1984.

Pilgrimage site

Virgin Mary statue in Maríulind

The only place of pilgrimage in Iceland is Maríulind near Hellnar on the Snæfellsnes peninsula, where, according to oral tradition, in 1230, Mary , accompanied by three angels, appeared to Bishop Guðmundur the Good and told him to bless a spring. This source has never dried up since then. A white statue of the Virgin Mary was erected as a reminder.

Retreat, education and guest house

The Fransiskus Hotel in Stykkishólmur, the only Catholic establishment of its kind in Iceland, was inaugurated in 2016 after a renovation by Archbishop Hans-Josef Becker . The building complex also includes the local parish church.

See also

literature

  • Bonifatiuswerk der German Catholics, Department of Communication and Fundraising (Ed.): Iceland, Diasporakirche in wilder Natur. Paderborn, undated (approx. 2013).
  • Alois Arnstein Brodersen, The North Pole Mission. A contribution to the history of Catholic missions in the Nordic countries in the 19th century , Münster 2006.
  • Anja Sabel: How the Church Lives in Iceland. In: Tag des Herrn (newspaper) , issue 46/2018 of November 18, 2018, pp. 6-7.

Web links

Commons : Roman Catholic Diocese of Reykjavík  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ AP2019
  2. ↑ Albert Steuer: Iceland's Catholic Church has an eventful history. In: Ansgar-Info , Autumn 2016 issue, pp. 16–17, here p. 17.
  3. ↑ cf. http://www.archive.org/stream/hungurvakasiveh01lagoog#page/n51/mode/1up Hungrvaka , p. 51, accessed: July 28, 2010
  4. ↑ from: Nordic trips , Vol. 1: Iceland and the Faroe Islands . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1889.
  5. ↑ Bonifatiusblatt , July-September 2018, p. 23.
  6. ↑ This beautiful church was a gift from Slovakia to Icelandic Catholics. catholicnewsagency.com, June 24, 2017, accessed January 24, 2018. (English)
  7. ↑ Bonifatiusblatt , January-March 2010, p. 11.
  8. ↑ Bonifatiusblatt , July-September 2010, p. 14.
  9. ↑ http://www.catholica.is/fregnir/item/ny-kirkja-a-selfossi
  10. ↑ Kaþolska Kirkjublaðið : p. 5, year 24, November / December 2014
  11. ↑ http://www.bonifatiuswerk.de/fileadmin/user_upload/bonifatiuswerk/bilder/Projekte/PDF-Listings/2015/Projekte_Island_05022015.pdf
  12. ↑ http://www.bonifatiuswerk.de/werk/aktuelles/newsausgabe/article/bistum-reykjavik-die-groesste-gemeinde-nordeuropas/
  13. ^ Diocese of Reykjavik is the largest community in Northern Europe , Bonifatiuswerk, May 11, 2015.
  14. ↑ Iceland. Young church with challenges. In: echo of love. No. 4/2020, May 2020, p. 4.
  15. ^ Nomina del Nunzio Apostolico in Svezia e in Islanda. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , April 6, 2017, accessed April 6, 2017 (Italian).
  16. ↑ Bonifatiuswerk der Deutschen Katholiken, Department of Communication and Fundraising (ed.): Iceland, Diasporakirche in wilder Natur. Paderborn, undated (approx. 2013), p. 53.
  17. ↑ STYKKISHOLMUR. nat.is, accessed on February 12, 2019. (English)
  18. ^ Catholic Church. Church in Akureyri. lonelyplanet.com, accessed February 5, 2019. (English)
  19. ↑ Bonifatiusblatt , July-September 2018, p. 23.
  20. ↑ This beautiful church was a gift from Slovakia to Icelandic Catholics. catholicnewsagency.com, June 24, 2017, accessed February 1, 2018. (English)
  21. ^ Plans for a Catholic Church in Selfoss. icelandreview.com, May 13, 2015, accessed January 31, 2019.
  22. ^ A new church for Selfoss. bonifatiuswerk.de, accessed on October 14, 2019.
  23. ↑ ST. MARY´S Roman Catholic Church, Reykjavík (English)
  24. ↑ Strong Catholic presence off the Westfjords. domradio.de, April 4, 2016, accessed November 16, 2018
  25. ↑ Fransiskus-Hotel , accessed on November 16, 2018 (English)