Burned church lacked sprinklers

The 250 year-old Østre Porsgrunn church, which burned down on April 11 2011, should have had a sprinkler installed after a change to the law 20 years ago, according to the Norwegian Fire Protection Association. Dagfinn Kalheim, chief executive of the association, told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) that such an “important culturally historic building” with “large [...]

Stave church to be restored

One of the biggest attractions at the Norwegian Folkmuseum in Oslo, its landmark stave church from the 13th century, will be closed at the end of this year’s summer tourist season for a major restoration expected to take two years. The church, said by experts to have been built in 1212 in the mountain valley [...]

Immigrants back Christian revival

The numbers of Norwegians who regularly attend church services have long been on the decline, but Christian congregations are thriving in the country’s capital thanks to immigration. New statistics and trends over the past 10 years show it’s a myth that most immigrants are Muslims. “We have been so preoccupied with talking about Muslim immigrants [...]

Crisis aid for churches shows results

The bells were ringing again this week at many historic churches around Norway, and church-goers could see some results of the left-center government’s crisis package that’s saving them from years of neglect. The Labour Party-led government forked over NOK 1.2 billion last year for badly needed maintenance of the state-owned churches, after receiving a report [...]

High season at the Oslo Cathedral

It’s high season at the newly refurbished Oslo Cathedral (Oslo Domkirke) with concerts and special events highlighting the weeks leading up to traditional church services held through the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The band belonging to His Majesty the King’s Guards performed recently for the king at the annual Military Parade (gardeparade). The Oslo [...]

Controversial pastor resigns

Einar Gelius, the high-profile pastor who’s made waves in Norway’s state church for years, resigned his post at Oslo’s Vålerenga Church but not without some harsh parting shots. There was broad speculation that if he hadn’t quit, he would have been fired. “It was clear the bishop (Oslo Bishop Ole Kristian Kvarme) and the bishop’s [...]

Pastor risks his job over sex book

The controversial pastor of Vålerenga parish in Oslo, Einar Gelius, is in trouble with his employers again, after writing a book about sex in the Bible. Oslo Bishop Ole Christian Kvarme has launched dismissal proceedings against Gelius, who’s gone on leave until the bishop’s council meets in special session at the end of this month. [...]

Stave churches get some secret help

Norway’s historic stave churches have been getting some badly needed restoration work, along with improvements aimed at preserving them for another thousand years. Much of the work done to ensure their security is being kept secret. The 28 original stave churches that still exist around Norway are among the oldest wooden buildings in the world. [...]

Cathedral opens after renovation

Oslo’s more than 300-year-old Domkirke (Cathedral) finally re-opened this weekend, nearly four years after a major renovation began to address years of neglect. Now church officials are keen on making up for lost time. The cathedral has been the site of royal weddings, major funerals and all official church events in the capital. Its refurbishment [...]

Priest denies assault claim, and quits

One of Norway’s most well-known Catholic priests has emerged as the alleged offender behind a sexual assault claimed by another Catholic priest. Pater Kjell Arild Pollestad denies the claim and contends he’s been the victim of enemies within the church. Now he’s leaving the priesthood. Pollestad wrote a lengthy and detailed rebuttal in newspaper Aftenposten Tuesday [...]

Catholic church aware of six assaults

The Catholic church in Norway announced Friday that it’s now aware of six sexual assaults by priests, including the one revealed this week that resulted in last year’s quiet dismissal of the church’s bishop in Trondheim. Church officials won’t open its personnel archives, though, to investigators. Oslo Bishop Bernt Eidsvig, who heads the Catholic church [...]

Disgraced bishop still holding mass

The former Catholic bishop in Trondheim, who left Norway last year after admitting to sexually molesting an altar boy in the 1980s, has been conducting mass again in his native Germany. The head of the Catholic Church in Norway plans to protest. Norwegian media has been full of stories about the latest sex scandal within [...]

Catholics’ scandal spreads to Norway

The Norwegian Catholics’ former bishop in Trondheim left his post last summer after admitting that he’d sexually molested an altar boy around 20 years earlier, reports newspaper Adresseavisen. Church officials chose not to publicly acknowledge the molestation, claiming the bishop was “relieved of his duties” because of “cooperation problems” within his congregation. The disgraced bishop [...]

Bishop sorry for ‘missed opportunity’

Norway’s Catholic Bishop Bernt Eidsvig stopped short of criticizing Pope Benedict XVI, but said on national television during the Easter holidays that he thinks the Vatican “missed an opportunity” to ease tensions over recent charges of sexual assault and pedophilia. He has come out strongly for a need to deal firmly and openly with such [...]

State church slow to integrate

Norway’s state church faces major reforms as it continues to see its membership shrink. Now a new study reveals that its leadership remains as ethnically white as many of the churches themselves, despite lofty claims about the importance of integration and inclusion. Last week’s new government ministerial line-up included a significant change for administration of [...]

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