A vibrant Church

“Reykjavik is the northernmost Catholic diocese in the world: tens of thousands of faithful (3.3% of the total population), most of them foreigners”. But the Catholic Church in Iceland “is young and the number of baptisms are ten times as many as the funerals. With the influx of foreign workers on the island, the number of Catholics has tripled in the last ten years: new places of worship have been created and many more will be needed”. Monsignor Pierre Bürcher, Bishop of Reykjavik, and Séra Jakob Rolland, his Chancellor, speak to Sir Europe in this interview by Sarah Numico after the elections (April 27, 2013) that brought to power two parties of the moderate right.What assessment can you give of the outcome of the elections in Iceland?”It was clear that a change was needed. The previous government created after the 2008 crisis had tried to manage the critical situation of the country’s banking system which had completely collapsed. The creation of national banks with the aid of the IMF had worked. There were, however, major problems of household debt related to the incredibly inflated mortgages due to the weak performance of the national currency, which is still an issue. Many families are in big trouble because they cannot pay back the money. The banks had suspended mortgage payments for a while to give some breathing space but now the time is up: the banks are repossessing the properties and families are still in debt. The government fell because it has not been able to solve this problem. The two winning parties have a very strong plan on this point and it will certainly be the first issue they must face”.What is the attitude towards the EU?”There is plenty of contrast in the political arena between those supporting and those opposing EU entry. The majority of the population does not want to join the EU, mainly because the Icelandic fish industry – which accounts for 50% of the island’s economy – would become easily accessible to foreign investors once the country joined the EU. People don’t want this to happen. For some time now we have sought an agreement with the EU to protect the industry, but until now Brussels has not been forthcoming. I personally think that Iceland would need the EU because our trade is with other European countries; but as it stands, it will be impossible for Iceland to take that step. With the two parties that are in government now, the issue will be postponed for many years, unless Brussels opts for a policy shift”.What are the most urgent challenges facing the Icelandic Church in this period?”Iceland has to rediscover its true values and its Christian roots. We had almost forgotten about these values when the economy was booming and less than 10% of the island’s population were living below the poverty line. Now, after the economic, political and social crisis, people are facing critical issues. Iceland needs to find ways to engage on journeys of authentic Christianity in everyday life, as it did in the year 1000. This is the challenge of the new evangelization, which covers the entire northern hemisphere. Evangelization must be gradual, it takes time and must take into account the particular conditions of Iceland. It takes a lot of patience. Women’s religious congregations that have been in the country for decades still today do not have Icelandic religious vocations. We also need to find local vocations to the priesthood because Icelanders still too often see the Catholic Church as a ‘foreign Church’. Currently two young Icelanders have shown their interest in becoming priests. Two more are preparing for the permanent diaconate. The catechesis of children and young people and adult training are some of the main challenges in Iceland”.What aspects of the papacy of Pope Francis are particularly significant for Christians in Iceland?”We are a young but poor Church, and we could not live without outside help. Poverty compels us to open up to foreigners. Those two features relate to what Cardinal Bergoglio had expressed before the conclave: a Church that comes out of herself to enter geographical and existential peripheries. In addition, poverty of the Church is a theme that is dear to Pope Francis, as he has repeatedly expressed since the beginning of his pontificate. In the zeal of the world’s missionary work, the Catholic Church is often overlooked in the Nordic countries because the prevailing sentiment among many people and organizations is that being in rich countries, they do not need financial support. But we forget or do not know that it is a young and poor community, which accounts for between 1.5 and 3.3% of the total population of each country, where the majority is Lutheran. We do not need to look too far to find poverty! And evangelization is a pressing issue in the North as in the rest of the world!”