Catholic Church in Iceland

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The Cathedral of Christ the King in Reykjavík, Iceland

The Catholic Church in Iceland (

Diocese of Reykjavík, having a total of seven parishes. As of 2015, the ordinary is bishop Dávid Bartimej Tencer.[1] The diocese is directly subject to the Holy See
.

Statistics

As of 2022[update], there are 14,723 Catholics in Iceland,

Christ the King Cathedral (Dómkirkja Krists Konungs) in Reykjavík
, and a number of smaller churches and chapels in the larger towns around the country.

History

Pre-Reformation

Some of the earliest inhabitants of Iceland were Irish monks, known as

Christianisation of Iceland, as with the rest of Scandinavia, was a long process, beginning before official conversion and continuing after it.[4]

Before the

Diocese of Hólar (first bishop, Bl. Jón Ögmundsson, 1106).[citation needed
]

Reformation

During the

Christian III of Denmark and Norway declared himself for Lutheranism and began to enforce the change in his kingdom. This led to resistance and civil war on the island. Jón Arason and Ögmundur Pálsson, the Catholic bishops of Skálholt and Hólar respectively, opposed the king's efforts at promoting the Reformation in Iceland. Pálsson was deported by Danish officials in 1541, but Arason decided to fight. Opposition to the Reformation effectively ended in 1550 when Arason was captured after being defeated in the Battle of Sauðafell by royalist forces under Daði Guðmundsson. Arason and his two sons were subsequently beheaded in Skálholt on 7 November 1550.[citation needed
]

As a consequence, Catholicism was outlawed and church property was appropriated by Iceland's rulers. Latin remained the official language of the Lutheran Church of Iceland until 1686. While a good part of Catholic terminology and other externals were retained, Lutheran teachings differed considerably from Catholic doctrine. Those Catholics who refused to convert were forced into exile. Most chose Scotland as their place of exile. Catholic clergy were outlawed in Iceland for more than three centuries.[citation needed]

Revival

Number of Catholics in Iceland over time

The Catholic Church established on 8 December 1855 a jurisdiction under the name Apostolic Prefecture of the North Pole (Praefectura Apostolica Poli Arctici) that included Iceland. Several years later, the two French priests

Pius IX set up an Apostolic Prefecture of Denmark, which now included Iceland. Freedom of worship was enacted in 1874. After an interval, Catholic missionary efforts were resumed, with by the turn of the century a church, a school and even a hospital run by nuns.[citation needed
]

The former jurisdiction became an Apostolic Vicariate of Denmark on 15 March 1892. Thereafter, the island territory became for the

Diocese of Reykjavík. Even though the Catholic population remains small, both as a percentage of the overall population and in absolute numbers, it grew from about 450 in 1950 to 5,590 in 2004, during which time the total population grew from 140,000 to 290,000.[citation needed
]

In the twentieth century Iceland had some notable, if at times temporary, converts to the Catholic faith. For a time

Society of Jesus for the rest of his life. He was well liked as a children's book author (though he did not write in Icelandic) and he even appeared on an Icelandic postage stamp. In 1989, Pope John Paul II visited Iceland.[citation needed
]

Today, the number of Catholics in

Scandinavian Bishops Conference. Many of the Catholics are Central European and Filipino immigrants; if they are excluded, Catholics are about 1% of the population, the figure before immigrants started coming in large numbers.[citation needed
]

On 17 June 2017 a new Catholic Church was consecrated in Reyðarfjörður in a ceremony led by Bishop Tencer. The church building was a gift from the Slovak Catholic Church. The church was built from wood in Slovakia, disassembled and shipped to Reyðarfjörður where it was re-assembled. Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, attended the consecration.[5]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Cheney, David M. "Reykjavik (Diocese)". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  2. ^ a b "Populations by religious and life stance organizations 1998-2022". Statistics Iceland. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  3. ^ "From Iceland — Catholic Congregation in Iceland Growing Rapidly". 24 October 2019.
  4. ^ Jenny Jochens, 'Late and Peaceful: Iceland's Conversion Through Arbitration in 1000', Speculum, 74 (1999), 621-55. DOI: 10.2307/2886763, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2886763.
  5. ^ "This beautiful church was a gift from Slovakia to Icelandic Catholics". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 2017-08-22.

External links
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