Roman Catholicism in the Faroe Islands

The history of Roman Catholic Church in the Faroe Islands goes back to the year 999, when king Olav Tryggvason of Norway sent Sigmundur Brestisson on a mission to the islands with several priests. The islands became an independent diocese in 1111, but were officially reformed in 1537 and the last Catholic bishop died in 1538. After 1538, the Catholic Church was only revived in 1931 as a part of the bishopric of Copenhagen. The state church is now the Protestant Faroese People's Church.

Today 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. Although the Catholic presence is small, the Church has had a large impact through the St. Frans school, run by the Franciscan Sisters since its establishment in 1933.

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 Catholic, as Norway was at that time.

In 1100, the Faroes were elevated to become the independent Faroese Diocese, and in the year 1111 the first Bishop took 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 his death in 1538.

Protestant Reformation

Christian III of Denmark suspended the Norwegian parliament in 1535, and Denmark annexed Norway along with the Faroe Islands. In 1537 the king decreed that the official state churches in Norway, Denmark and the Faroes be reformed in accordance with the Lutheran doctrine adopted at the Augsburg Confession in 1530.

During the Reformation the old bishop's office was disestablished and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Hamar was executed in 1542. The seminary was closed.Fact|date=December 2007 The Crown confiscated all lands held by the Catholic Church, which had occupied about 40 percent of the Faroes.

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.By 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.

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 congregation soon outgrew the small church in Bringsnagøta, 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 Franciscan Sisters of the Faroe Islands were known for their good works and tolerance. They sold handicrafts and collected plastic bottles, using the proceeds to fund their school, St. Frans. They also donated a portion for the hungry of the world. Some students of the school were taken in as foster children. Faroese teachers taught in Faroese, even though the sisters themselves were foreigners from across Europe. They learned the Faroese language and spoke with an accent, which was called the "Nun Accent." It never disappeared. They also taught their students the Lutheran faith, even though they were Catholic themselves. This lifestyle of tolerance served as a model for many natives.

The sisters' St. Frans school was always a step ahead of the rest of the school system. In benchmark tests their students were always among the best.

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 dedicated.

Mary's Church Today

The current 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. The atmosphere of the church invites to prayer and stillness.

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 Faroe Islands. These plants symbolize the place of the St. Mary's Church in the global Catholic community.

References

*Ingi Rasmussen: "The teachers wore veils". In: "Atlantic Review" Autumn 2004, (Atlantic Airways, Sørvágur 2004), p. 5-8 [http://www.stamps.fo/default.asp?docGuid={C1C21D68-B058-4514-83DB-0D474C89426D}&type=3 (and on stamps.fo)]

External links

* [http://www.katolsk.fo Katolsk.fo - Homepage] (English, Danish and Faroese)
* [http://www.stamps.fo/default.asp?catalog%5Fname=Frim%E6rker&category%5Fname=Kirker&product%5Fid=281 Stamps.fo - Faroese Post] (Public Domain)