New cathedral, open building site

The last Mass was celebrated on May 25; the organ was taken apart; the next day it was the turn of the wall behind the altar, a work of art by Håkon Bleken, after which the demolition words of the Catholic cathedral of Trondheim began. The Cathedral dedicated to St. Olav was completed in 1973, but it always had problems tied to the building’s poor isolation. With time, rust started to corrode the iron structures. Conservation works would have been more complex than building it all anew. Also because “the church has grown to small, and the Community too large” said Fr Egil Mogstad, priest of the parish. “The Church in Norway grows at a fast pace, with members with over 70 nationalities from all continents”. Ten thousand Catholics are registered in central Norway (diocese of Trondheim), while there are approximately 150 thousand Catholics in the Scandinavian Country. New ecumenism. Another reason that made it necessary to rebuild the Catholic cathedral is the “development of a positive ecumenical climate” whereby “our Church has become more active and visible in the local community”, said Fr Mogstad. The visit of John Paul II, whose 25 anniversary recurs in 2014, gave a considerable thrust and increased the Catholic Church’s involvement in ecumenical initiatives in central Norway. Moreover, Trondheim is the ecclesial capital of Lutheran Norway, because it hosts the home of the Primate. The Lutheran cathedral of Nidaros is a place for encounter between the Catholic and Lutheran tradition, as it was erected on the site where king Olav, the Scandinavian king who converted to Catholicism, proclaimed saint for his great wisdom and devotion, died in 1030. Althouth the ensuing Protestant reformation sought to vaporize the veneration and worship of the saint, the people never ceased thinking highly of the king, and today St. Olav is the patron Saint of the Lutheran Church of Norway and the Nidaros Cathedral is the traditional coronation site of Norwegian royalty. Pilgrims from world countries. Increasing numbers of pilgrims visit the tomb of St. Olav. “It’s a beautiful thing. It means that the awareness of the heritage of this saint is increasing”; however, the priest said, “we should acknowledge its impact”: first of all, we expect increasing numbers of Catholic and Protestant pilgrims from Norway and other Nordic countries. “In order to address this challenge it’s time to place the cornerstone of a new cathedral, whose dimension, functions, architectural shape and site meet the needs of the city population”, said Fr Egil Mogstad. However, “it will have to be subordinate to cathedral Nidaros, although at the same time it will have to express the self-understanding of the Catholic Church as the guardian of universal and apostolic tradition”. For this reason it was decided that the new Church be built following the architectural plan of a three-nave basilica. It was naturally include offices, community halls, for catechesis, and service rooms. Polish volunteers. The expense of this enterprise is estimated at approximately 80 million Norwegian crowns (some 10 million euros) “that we are unable to face alone”. Some dioceses in Germany promised to help (Cologne, Paderborn and Münster), while until now a lot has already been done by the volunteers, as in the case of 50 Polish bricklayers who built – in their free time, with recyclable materials – a temporary chapel in the atrium of the parish building and a sort of storehouse for all the religious ornaments of the Church that was emptied over the past weeks with the help of the parishioners. Not over 150 people can occupy the temporary chapel, and that’s why several Sunday Masses will be celebrated to enable everyone’s attendance, said Fr Albert Macka. In case of major religious celebrations (Christmas, Easter…) a larger Church will be sought for rental. “Adapting to everything will be a pleasant challenge, and some glitches are to be expected at the beginning, before the situation goes back to normal”. It will take 15 to 16 months from the time of the demolition, and by the end of 2015 Trondhiem will have its Catholic basilica. The various stages can be followed on pictures captures by webcams and uploaded on the website of the parish.