Bernt Ivar Eidsvig
| His Excellency Bernt Ivar Eidsvig C.R.S.A. | |
|---|---|
|
Bishop of Oslo Apostolic Administrator of Trondheim | |
 Bernt Ivar Eidsvig | |
| Church | Roman Catholic |
| Diocese | Roman Catholic Diocese of Oslo |
| Installed | 22 October 2005 |
| Predecessor | Gerhard Schwenzer |
| Other posts | Apostolic Administrator of Trondheim |
| Orders | |
| Ordination |
20 June 1982 by John Willem Gran |
| Consecration |
22 October 2005 by Gerhard Schwenzer |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 12, 1953 Rjukan, Norway |
| Nationality |
 Norwegian |
| Motto | Labori Non Honori |
Bernt Ivar Eidsvig (former order name Markus Bernt Eidsvig) (born September 12, 1953 at Rjukan) is the Catholic Bishop of Oslo and functioning apostolic administrator of Roman Catholic Territorial Prelature of Trondheim. He was appointed on 11 July 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI, which was announced on 29 July, the feast of St. Olav. Eidsvig took office in the Catholic St. Olav's Cathedral in Oslo on 22 July 2005.
Theological studies in Oslo
Eidsvig was born and raised in Rjukan. Before his conversion to the Catholic Church 20 December 1977, he studied theology at the University of Oslo with a view to ministry in the Norwegian Church. He took a theological degree there with the church's historic special task of Church and Society in "The Barsetshire novels' main works of the English writer Anthony Trollope (1815-1882). He also worked ten years as a freelancer for the Morgenbladet.
Arrest and imprisonment in Moscow
Eidsvig became nationally known when, on July 14th, 1976, he was arrested by the KGB in Moscow while he was acting as a courier for the exiled Russian organization NTS. Eidsvig's mission was to deliver leaflets, renal medicine and a handbook of "rebellion" to a Soviet Russian in Moscow who had requested such a shipment, but the intended recipient was in the meantime betrayed and arrested. Agents of the KGB were therefore waiting in the apartment for Eidsvig to arrive, at which point he was arrested. He remained under arrest (in Lefortovo Prison, Moscow) for 101 days before the Soviet authorities saw fit to release him, which happened after Foreign Minister Knut Frydenlund and Prime Minister Trygve Bratteli made efforts to get him free.
The arrest attracted considerable attention both in Norway and other countries, but many reactions were negative. To a great extent the information that was presented was influenced by Soviet disinformation. It was claimed that Eidsvig was led to an action that might lead to the arrest and that what he did was stupid and ridiculous. Among other things, it was falsely claimed that he was handing out fliers in the street. This presentation characterized, among other things, Aftenposten's coverage of the case, which allowed the KGB to use clippings from Norwegian press in their interrogations of Mr Eidsvig, to weaken his resistance.
Catholic theological studies in London and the ministry in Norway
After completing licentiate studies at Heythrop College in London, Mr Eidsvig was ordained as a diocesan priest of Oslo Catholic Diocese of St. Olav's Cathedral in Oslo on June 20th, 1982 by the then Catholic Bishop of Oslo, John Willem Gran. The next four years he served as chaplain at St. Paul in Bergen, where, on January 1 1986, he was named pastor after Father Wilhelm Hertmann OFM. It was under his leadership that the Catholic school St. Paul Bergen was moved, expanded and newly built directly behind St. Paul's Church.
During this time, Pastor Eidsvig also functioned as a teacher at St. Paul School. He was also active in the language association Riksmålsforbundet.
Before his appointment as parish priest he served in periods in the military chaplain corps of the Norwegian defense, partly at Evjemoen north of Kristiansand and partly with the medic recruits' company in Bømoen by Voss. In Oslo Catholic Diocese, he served on the Priests' Council 1983-1990, the Consultors' Council 1987-1990, and the Pastoral Council 1988-1991.
Canons in Austria
In the summer of 1991, Mr Eidsvig left his service in Norway and was received as a novice with the Canons of Stift Klosterneuburg in Austria, just outside Vienna. He was wearing track suit on 27 August 1991 and received the name Mark. He made his ordensprofess on 30 August 1995. He then worked from 1997 to 2003 as pastor of St. Leopold Church in Klosterneuburg, and from 1996 as a novice master in the monastery.
Under his leadership of the novitiate, the Stift Klosterneuburg has had a more international flavor than before: Besides a number of Austrians, he could welcome to the order candidates from the United States, Germany, Norway and Vietnam (the latter by way of Norway as refugees).
He has also been kapittelråd and chapter secretary of the Stift.
Markus Bernt Eidsvig was appointed Bishop of Oslo on 11 July 2005, the announcement of this appointment being delayed to the symbolic date of July, 29th (the memorial day of Norway's patron saint, St. Olav). Eidsvig is the first Canon of Klosterneuburg to be appointed bishop since 1913, when the monastery Pastor Friedrich Gustav Piffl was appointed Archbishop of Vienna.
The consecration to bishop and the inauguration took place in Trinity Church (Lutheran, on loan from the Norwegian Church for the occasion) and St. Olav Cathedral, respectively, on October 22nd, 2005. (The two churches are both situated in Oslo, within a kilometer of each other.) The consecration mass was broadcast on the Internet ( Web TV ) via www.katolsk.no. Eidsvig is the third Norwegian-born Catholic bishop in Norway since the Reformation, after Olaf Offerdahl (consecrated 6 April 1930, died 7 October the same year) and John Willem Gran (consecrated March 24, 1963, died March 20, 2008).
Coat of Arms
Eidsvig coat of arms as a bishop is divided into four fields. 1. and 4 field (upper heraldic right and lower left quadrant), Oslo Catholic bishop sentenced weapons (Olavsøksene, two axes, gold on red background), while the other two have half the weapons of Klosterneuburg (T-cross upside down, silver on red background) combined with Aaron's rod (gold on blue background). Klosterneuburg weapons are divided according to the rule that only the abbot (Dean) can use all the weapons, while the bishops who belonged to the monastery uses half combined with another emblem. The shield is crowned with a green prelathatt (galero) with six green tassels on each side of a bishop's cross. (This cross is mentioned in the Codex Iuris Canonici (CIC) 1917, canon 274, § 6, and should not be confused with the usual processional cross.)
The motto is Laborie NON Honoria, "work, not honor." It's the same motto as cardinal Piffl, Archbishop of Vienna, elected in 1913, it is the beginning of a motto in its entirety reads "work, not honor, to my effort to be devoted." This is a reproduction (not a verbatim quote) of this sentiment expressed in the hl. Augustine's writings.
Bibliography
- ″101 dager hos KGB" Oslo 1977
The book provides a detailed description of prison conditions and the KGB personnel's interrogative and investigative methods, as Mr Eidsvig experienced them. Mr Eidsvig also comments on the television interview he had to contribute to before his release, and on the press conference he participated in after arriving home in Norway. (The title translates as "101 days at the KGB".)
- ″Valfart til Lourdes: Et katolsk tilbud til soldater og befal″ (ed. with Roar Haldorsen), Oslo: Unge norske katolikkers forbund, 1982
This is a brief publication mentioning the annual organized military pilgrimage to Lourdes (in France), and how interested (Norwegian) soldiers or officers may get to participate in it.
- ″Den katolske kirke vender tilbake″, i ″Den katolske kirke i Norge″ (Editors: John W. Gran, Erik Gunnes, Lars Roar Langslet), Oslo 1993
This was a key contribution in a historical overview, published on the occasion of the 150-year anniversary of the Catholic Church's return to Norway in 1843.
He has also been a staff member of the Catholic journal "St. Olav".