NORINT 0500 Norwegian Life and Society Religion in Norway 05.11.2018 Hallgeir Elstad
Religion in Norway
Religion, state and society in Norway The Church of Norway has represented the main expression of religious belief in Norway for a thousand years. It has belonged to the Evangelical Lutheran branch of the Christian church since the 16th century, and became a state church. The long tradition of having a Lutheran state church This situation was changed by the Norwegian Parliament s changes of the Constitution in May 2012 From 1 January 2017 the Church of Norway is not a state church anymore
The Norwegian Constitution and Religion The Evangelical-Lutheran Religion is no longer the public religion of the state All Norwegians have freedom of religion The Church of Norway is an Evangelical-Lutheran Church and remains as Norway s Folk Church For this reason it shall be supported by the state, and all life stand communities shall according to their number of members be supported in same way. The King is member of the Church of Norway
The Death of Olav Haraldson 1030
Christian III the first Protestant King
The Constitution of Norway, 1814
Consecration of the King in Nidaros Cathedral 1991
Consecration of the King and Queen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s23w0a a1p7q
The Cathedral of Nidaros
King Harald 5. takes part in the Consecration of the Bishop of Oslo (2017)
Church of Norway A majority church Number of members (2018): 3 740 920 (70.6 %) An episcopal-synodic structure. More than 1.250 geographical parishes Around 1.600 churches More than 1.200 clergy
Church of Norway
Church of Norway The General Synod convenes once a year and is the highest representative body. The National Council is the executive body of the Synod, consists of 15 members. The Bishops' Conference convenes three times a year The Council on Ecumenical and International Relations deals with international and ecumenical matters. The Sami Church Council deals with church work among the indigenous Sami people.
The official symbol of the Church of Norway
Theological tensions There are strong theological tensions between different groups in the Church Over several decades of the second half of the 20 th the church conflict revolved around the question of legitimacy of female pastors The first female pastor, Ingrid Bjerkås, was ordained in 1961 The first female bishop, Rosemarie Køhn, was ordained in 1993.
Ingrid Bjerkås
Ingrid Bjerkås was ordained in Vang Church, near Hamar, as Norway's first female priest: http://www.nrk.no/skole/klippdetalj?topic=nrk: klipp/717317
Theological Tensions Strong resistance against the Registered Partnership Act of 1993 and same sex marriages of 2008 Earlier the Norwegian Bishops' Conference and the General Synod have not wanted to introduce a liturgy for such marriages. In April 2016 a great majority in the General Synod voted in favour of allowing same-sex marriage In October 2016 the Bishop s Conference approved a gender neutral liturgy for marriages In January 2017 a great majority in the General Synod voted in favour of a gender neutral liturgy for marriages
Folk Church This concept came to Scandinavia from Germany (Volkskirche). Schleiermacher: Volkskirche was a church of freedom from ecclesiastical power and bureaucracy, a church for freedom and pluralism. Later 'Volkskirche' got another shaping in the program for a home mission. In addition to these two concepts of Volkskirche, the 'Norwegian folk church' contains some of the same ambiguity as the concepts of people and nation
Church and welfare state A historical relation between the Lutheran tradition and the Nordic welfare states An important precondition building a welfare state is literacy among the people. The church administered the schools and the poor relief The Lutheranism has been one of several important factors that have contributed to the building of the Nordic welfare states.
The church and July 22 Traces of a mentality linked to the historical Norwegian church were displayed after the terror attacks in Oslo and on Utøya July 22 2011 On Sunday July 24, the Sunday service in the Cathedral of Oslo became a Mourning Service The Cathedral of Oslo became the focal point for grief The importance of church rituals
Sunday July 24, the sunday service in the Cathedral of Oslo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knn2vup 2Nm0
Cathedral of Oslo became the focal point for grief: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlzeu 9OKlvk
A Church minister and an imam together at the funeral of Bano Rashid after Utøya 2011
Some consequences of changed relations The responsibility for appointments of bishops and deans is no longer a task for the Government but for diocesan councils (appointment of deans) and the board of the National Council (appointment of bishops). For the time being, Church of Norway has no proper church order
Religion is more than Church of Norway Although Church of Norway has an important role concerning religious life in Norway the concept of religion and life stance has become much wider. This process of pluralization started in the middle of the 19 th century with the first steps towards freedom of religion It accelerated from the 1970s at the same time as the Norwegian society went through strong changes.
Statistics Church of Norway: 70.6 % of the population Baptized: 53.6 % - 30 331 (2018) Confirmed: 57.9 % - 35 519 (2018) Church weddings: 34.5 % - 7 331 (2015) Church burials: 88.2 % - 35 998 (2018)
Statistics Religious and life stance communities outside the Church of Norway: 619 222 (11 %) (2017) More than half of the members (54.8 %), 339 492, were members of Christian communities The Roman Catholic Church is greatest with its 152 000 members (2017) Islam: 153 067 (24.7 %), an increase of 26. % since 2013 1990: 19 000 Buddhism 17 351, Hinduism 8 965, Baha i 1140, Judaism 769, Sikhism 3 654 (2017) The Norwegian Humanist Organisation: 92 919 (15 %) (2017), an increase of 8 % since 2013.
Outside Church of Norway
Diversity of religion The changes regarding religious statistics referred to above, are partially related to migration and ethnic and cultural diversity, which are changing the composition of the Norwegian population. Religious pluralism implies diversity of religion. Increasing membership numbers of religious and life stance communities outside the Church of Norway reflect a quantitative pluralisation of religion in Norway. Through a wider range of various religious communities a quantitative diversification also takes place.
The mosque in Åkebergveien, Oslo
Belief and non-belief Surveys covering religion also indicate religious changes. A decreasing number of respondents saying they believe in God, while the number of those responding they do not believe in God is increasing. God has become less important in people s lives. These changes of statistics can be interpreted as an impact of secularisation. Religion and its role in society are changing, but that does not necessarily mean a weakening of religion. Secularity in Nordic context is rather an intertwinement between secularity and religion
The future of religion i Norway The decline of membership rate and participation in ceremonies within the Church of Norway probably will continue but also the intertwinement of secular and sacred A wider range of various religious communities increase and at the same time more diversification will take place. To meet the new situation with increasing multireligiousness and pluralism the Church of Norway has chosen dialogue and co-operation. the hope for future is to avoid violent conflicts based in religious differences, cultures and ethnicities