Nordic Catholic Church
The Nordic Catholic Church (Template:Lang-no) is a church body in Norway of High Church Lutheran origin, under the auspices of the Polish National Catholic Church and the episcopal oversight of the bishop of its Buffalo-Pittsburgh diocese.
The Nordic Catholic Church was founded in 1999 by a group of Catholic-minded people belonging to the “orthodox opposition” in the Lutheran state Church of Norway when they left the state church due to, for example, the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate. During the process both the Anglican Forward in Faith organisation and the Free Synod of the Church of Sweden were kept fully informed. In Sweden it was paralleled by the foundation of the Mission Province of the Church of Sweden.
The "Statement of Faith" of the Nordic Catholic Church states that it adheres to its Lutheran heritage to the extent that it has embraced and transmitted the orthodox and catholic faith of the undivided church, therefore also embracing the Catholic faith as taught by the Polish National Catholic Church.
The vicar general and the bishop elect of the Nordic Catholic Church in Scandinavia is Monsignor Roald Nicolai Flemestad.
External links
- Den nordisk-katolske kirke, in Norwegian
- Scandinavian Lutherans form "Continuing" church
- Out on a Limb in Norway by William J. Tighe (Touchstone July/August, 2002)
- Report from Norway by Fr Roald Flemestad - The National Assembly of Forward in Faith UK on 6 and 7 October 2006