Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Hafnarfjörður (Fides Service) - The Sisters Servants of the Lord and Our Lady of Matara arrived in Iceland last October with the Year of the Eucharist. They settled in a parish in Hafnarfjörður about 15 minutes from the capital Reykjavik and immediately set to work to help the small Catholic community benefit from the special year being lived by the whole Church all over the world. “Today like most of Europe Iceland is considered a mission territory - said Mother superior María of Pentecost. The Catholic community is small, the official religion is Lutheran. For the local Catholic community a visit from the Pope, John Paul II in 1989, was very important”. Only a few people go to church and receive the sacraments, but Mother Maria said this is due “more to lack of knowledge of the faith than rejection of the faith and this encourages us in our work”.
Christianity arrived here in about 1000 and the first bishop was ordained in 1056. Lutheranism was brought to the island in the 16th century and made the official religion. Catholics were persecuted. Religious freedom was granted to the few Catholics in 1874. Mother Maria said “in the last two centuries much of the old religious material was lost. Recently a Carmelite nun of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in a convent in the north of the island, worked with a group of lay experts to translate the Liturgy of the Hours into Icelandic. This work has been a great gift for the Year of the Eucharist because it enabled us to organise Holy Hours of Adoration with the official ‘prayer of the Church’ in the local people’s own language.” Also for the Year of the Eucharist the sisters organised a parish pilgrimage from Hafnarfjörður to the Catholic cathedral in the capital for a special Mass. The closing of the Year of the Eucharist was marked with solemn Adoration and Benediction.
For the moment besides learning the language and bearing witness of Religious Life, the Sisters are working with local children. “Our parish, St Joseph’s, has an oratory like a Don Bosco centre. On Fridays we look after about 45 children. We organise games with them and take tea and cookies, ‘nami’ in Icelandic, with them. They are surprised and some want to know why we do this.” Most of the children are Lutheran and know nothing of the Catholic faith said Mother Maria, adding “but we often find them in the chapel in front of the tabernacle unaware that they are ‘visiting’ Jesus there”. The country has a population of about 291,000 inhabitants 92% Lutheran, 3% other Lutheran and 1% Catholic. Catholics are 5,582 gathered in 4 parishes, looked after by 11 priests (6 diocesan, 5 Religious), 5 Brothers, 34 women religious. There is one major seminarian and the average annual number of baptisms is 116. Pope John Paul II visited the Catholic community in 1989. (source: Church’s Annual Year Book) (RG) (Agenzia Fides 25/10/2005, righe 29, parole 402)
