Religions in Norway
Published on Sunday, 9th June, 2013 at 12:20
by M. Michael Brady.
Norway is, and increasingly becoming a multi-cultural society. It is mainly a secular Christian country, but what about other religions here? The Foreigner launches the first of several articles today.
Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim
Photo: Eikern/Wikipedia
Olav Tryggvason, the great-grandson of the first king of Norway, returned from England to Norway on a royal mission in 995, ruling the country from then. He landed at Moster, an island off the west coast, where he celebrated mass in a tent and thereby introduced Christianity. There had been no organised religion in the country until that time, though the Vikings had beliefs that have been passed down in Icelandic Sagas written by Snorri Sturlusson and Sæmundeur Sigfüsson.
By 1030, Christianity had spread across the country. Norway gained its first Saint with the killing of Christian Viking King Olav II at the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030. Building of a Cathedral began in 1070 over St. Olav’s grave at Nidaros, now Trondheim. By 1152, Nidaros was the seat of a powerful Archbishop, and Norway was a Christian, Catholic country.
The Reformation swept across Norway four centuries on. In 1537, the Church of Norway became Lutheran. Lutheranism was so prevalent by 1814, that the Constitution signed 17 May that year specified it as the State religion, commanding parents to bring up their children in the faith.
Norway’s constitution also barred Jesuits, monastic orders and Jews from the country. The stipulation of a State Protestant Church, and the barring of Catholic orders, might have come from the beliefs of the Reformation, when monasteries and convents had been closed and Catholics had been banned. The reasons for banning Jews are less clear and are debated to this day.
http://theforeigner.no/pages/columns/religions-in-norway-an-article-series/