Roman Catholicism in the Faroe Islands

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Roman Catholic Church in the Faroe Islands goes back to the year 999, when Olav Tryggvason, king of Norway, sent Sigmundur Brestisson with some priests to the islands on a mission. The first bishop of the islands was ordained in 1111, and there have been 34 bishops since then, the last one, Ámundur Ólavsson, dying in 1538. So, the Catholic Church was present from 999 until 1538, and was only revived in 1931, as a part of the bishopric of Copenhagen.

There are 130 Catholic believers from 23 nations living on the Faroe Islands. Their center of worship is the Mariukirkjan (St. Mary's Church) in Tórshavn.

The evangelical state church is represented by the Faroese Peoples Church.

Contents 1 Early history 2 Reformation 3 Bavarian Intermezzo 4 The Franciscan Sisters 5 Mary's Church Today 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Early history

In 999, the Norwegian king Olav Tryggvason sent the Viking chieftain Sigmundur Brestisson along with several priests to the Faroese in order to baptize the people and instruct them in the best of the Christian faith. The teachings were at that time Catholic.

In 1100, the Faroes were elevated to the independent Faroese Diocese, and in the year 1111 the first Bishop began his office in Kirkjubøur. During the next 400 years, 34 Catholic bishops resided in Kirkjubøur. The last bishop was Ámundur Ólavsson, who held his office until 1538.

[edit] Reformation

see main article: Reformation in the Faroe Islands

Christian III of Denmark suspended the Norwegian parliament in 1535 and Denmark annexed Norway as well as the Faroe Islands. In 1537 the king decreed that the church in Norway - and the Faroes - be reformed. During the Reformation the old bishop's office was disestablished, the priest school was closed and all land in the Faroes occupied by the Catholic church (about 40 percent) was confiscated. The language of the church became the Danish language.

[edit] Bavarian Intermezzo

After the introduction of freedom of religion with the first Danish Constitution in 1849, there was an attempt to bring back Catholicism to the Faroes. In 1857, Bavarian priest Georg Bauer arrived on the islands. He built a church in Rættará, Tórshavn, but did not find many followers. When he left the Faroes in 1880, he had no successor, and the building decayed. Around 1900, only one Catholic remained on the Faroes, in Hvítanes. She had a chapel to herself. Once a year a priest from Copenhagen visited her to read mass.

[edit] The Franciscan Sisters

In 1931 two young priests, E. G. Boekenogen and Thomas King, undertook the task of re-establishing a Catholic congregation. In a house leased to the Franciscan Sisters, who came to the Faroes in 1931, a small church was consecrated on May 23rd that same year. Among the first to visit this church were some old people who had in their youth attended Father Bauer's church.

The small church in Bringsnagøta soon became too small and together with the new school of St. Frans, which the sisters had built, a new Church of Mary was consecrated on June 1, 1933. The present Church of St. Mary was inaugurated in 1987. It serves as the convent church of the Franciscan sisters. Here the faithful gather for mass and the atmosphere invites to prayer and stillness.

The Franciscans were known on the Faroe Islands for the following:

• They collected plastic bottles and put the proceeds into their school, St. Frans, and also spent it on the hungry of the world.
• They sold handcrafts for the same purpose.
• They took in students as foster children.
• They let Faroese teachers teach in Faroese, even though they themselves were foreigners from across Europe.
• They themselves learned Faroese and spoke with an accent, which was called the "Nun Accent", and it never disappeared.
• With their school, the sisters were always a step ahead of the rest of the school system. In benchmark tests their students always were among the best.
• They taught their students the Lutheran faith, even though they themselves were Catholic.
• Their tolerant lifestyle served as a model for many natives.

In 1985 St. Frans School moved to the Tórshavn community, because the Franciscan sisters were too old to run it any more. Today they have 350 students and 30 teachers. The typical red school building of 1934, designed by the Faroese architect H. C. W. Tórgarð, is remembered by generations of Tórshavners, who were instructed there. In 1987 a new school building was consecrated.

[edit] Mary's Church Today

Today's St. Mary's church was consecrated on 30 August 1987. This church is also the Convent church of the Franciscan sisters. Here the community gathers every Sunday at 11 o'clock for mass.

In the garden surrounding the church a variety of plants is grown; many of them originate from remote areas of the Southern Hemisphere with growing conditions similar to those of the Faroan Islands. These plants symbolize the place of the St. Mary's Church in the global Catholic community.

[edit] References

This article is based on a translation of an article from the German Wikipedia.

• Ingi Rasmussen: "The teachers wore veils". In: Atlantic Review Autumn 2004, (Atlantic Airways, Sørvágur 2004), p. 5-8 (and on stamps.fo)

[edit] External links

• Katolsk.fo - Homepage (English, Danish and Faroese)
• Stamps.fo - Faroese Post (Public Domain)