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Religion in Iceland |
Religion in Iceland was initially the Norse paganism that was commonly believed by Vikings (from 874 to 1000). Later, the nation became half-Christian and then more fully Christian. This increasing Christianization culminated in the Pietism period when non-Christian entertainments were discouraged. At present, the population is overwhelmingly, if nominally, Lutheran. However, Baptist, Catholic, Jehovah's Witness, Mormon, Muslim and other faiths exist. [1]
Many of the early Icelandic sagas concerned the Norse religion period. The Hrafnkels saga is perhaps one of the more well-known examples to deal with the Norse period as its main character is initially dedicated to Freyr.
Around 1000, Iceland initially converted to Christianity in a partial and diplomatic way. The compromise measure came about due to the Norse-pagan Þorgeirr Ljósvetningagoði and is also dealt with in the article on the Íslendingabók. In the compromise, the old laws allowing Infanticide and eating horsemeat would stay. Pagan sacrifices remained legal if they were done in private. However, in public and officially, the nation became Christian. This was in part to please the Christianized kings of Norway, a main trading partner for Medieval Iceland, and in part to satisfy Iceland's growing Christian faction. Over time, the allowances for paganism dwindled, then disappeared.
Still their relationship to the rest of Christendom remained strained for the first few centuries. The Catholic Church officially disproved of several variance they had from the rest of the Christian world. For example, the Althing could, and did in cases like Jón Ögmundsson, vote to make someone a saint. Although the standards of canonization were not yet regularized, this was considered unusual. Added to that, the Church was subservient to the chieftains as churches were often on their land. The priests often had concubines or were themselves children of concubines. Lastly, the convent was often made up of older widows of wealthy Icelanders. This meant a nun could, and sometimes was, both widow of a previous bishop and mother of the current one. This gave nuns an unusual position.
Two bishoprics were established in Iceland, one at Skálholt (created 1056) and one at Hólar (1106). These became Lutheran during the Reformation, and were later amalgamated in 1801 into a single diocese under the Bishop of Iceland in the Lutheran Church of Iceland.
The Reformation almost completely obliterated Catholic Iceland. Two local men, Oddur Gottskálksson and Gissur Einarsson, became disciples of Luther and soon secured followers, particularly after King Christian III of Denmark and Norway declared himself for Lutheranism and began to enforce the change in his kingdom. The imprisonment of Ögmundur Pálsson, Bishop of Skálholt, left only Jón Arason, Bishop of Hólar, to resist in the name of Catholicism.
The Reformation proved to be more violent in Iceland than in most of the lands ruled by Denmark, partly from Arason's proto-nationalistic resistance, which escalated nearly to the point of civil war. Though he succeeded for a time, he was betrayed and executed on November 7, 1550.
With the bishops gone, a religious transition was inevitable. Following the usual pattern of the Reformation, Catholicism was outlawed and loyal Catholics persecuted. Meanwhile, the rulers of the land pounced upon Church property and divided the loot among themselves and their supporters. Though Latin remained the official language of the Lutheran Church of Iceland until the year 1686, and a good part of the former Catholic terminology and other externals were retained, the doctrinal substance was obviously very different. Moreover, the rigorous laws of Denmark, which were enforced in Iceland, prohibited, under severe penalties, the celebration of Catholic services. For more than three hundred years, no Catholic priest was permitted to set foot on that soil.
The Catholic Church established on December 8, 1855 a jurisdiction under the name Prefecture Apostolic of the North Pole (Praefectura Apostolica Poli Arctici) that included Iceland. Several years later, the two French priests Bernard Bernard (1821-1895) and Jean-Baptiste Baudoin (1831-1875) settled in Iceland in 1857 and 1858 respectively. They met with a difficult reception and in 1862, Bernard left the country, while Baudoin persevered until 1875. On August 17, 1869, Pope Pius IX set up Prefecture Apostolic of Denmark, to which Iceland passed. Freedom of worship was enacted in 1874. After an interval, Catholic missionary efforts were resumed, with church, school and even a hospital run by nuns by the turn of the century.
The former jurisdiction became a Vicariate Apostolic of Denmark on March 15, 1892. Thereafter, the island territory became for the Catholic Church an independent unit, first as the Prefecture Apostolic of Iceland on June 23, 1923 and then, not many years later, on June 6, 1929, as the Vicariate Apostolic of Iceland. It was on October 18, 1968 that this entity matured into the Diocese of Reykjavik. Even though the Catholic population remains small as a percentage of the overall population and in absolute numbers, it grew from about 450 in 1950 to 5,590 in 2004, during which time the total population grew from 140,000 to 290,000.
Starting in the eighteenth century, Pietism rose in importance due to activity from Denmark. The pietists expanded printing and literature in Iceland. However, education and literacy for the Pietists was primarily or solely to have a religious function and they discouraged anything without religious meaning.[2] This led to encouraging a certain dourness to Iceland by discouraging dancing or other entertainments.
In modern times, the Icelanders are some a secular people with rather low church attendance. However, some religions, mainly Christianity, still influence the culture.
Officially, the nation is religiously homogeneous. Non-Christian religions account for less than 5% of the population and the vast majority of Christians are Lutherans. Church attendance, however, remains low.
Official statistics place Iceland as overwhelmingly Lutheran. The main church is the Church of Iceland which represents 80.7% of the population (2007). The Church of Iceland is also the State Church, but religious freedom is practiced. There are several "free Lutheran" churches as well which total 4.9% of the population. In recent years, there has been an increase in the proportion linked to the free Lutheran churches. In total, some 90% of the population are registered as some form of Lutheran. However, these statistics are by some considered misleading since most people are automatically registered as members of the Church of Iceland. Estimates indicate that 10% of the population attend religious service regularly and 43% never attend.
In contemporary times, Catholicism has had a greater acceptance and success in Iceland. It is perhaps the largest non-Lutheran faith in Iceland, but at the same time remains a small minority (2.5% of the population). There is a Roman Catholic Diocese of Reykjavík with Pierre Bürcher as Bishop.1 It is estimated that half of the nation's Catholics are foreign born with the main groups being Filipinos and Poles.
In the twentieth century, Iceland had some notable, if at times temporary, converts to the faith. For a time Halldór Laxness was Catholic. Although this did not last, his Catholic period is of importance due to his position in modern Icelandic literature. A more consistently Catholic writer in Icelandic was Jón Sveinsson. He moved to France at 13 and became a Jesuit. He remained in the Society of Jesus for the rest of his life. He was well-liked as a children's book author (writing in German) and even appeared on postage stamps.[3]
The Pentecostals are the third largest religious group in Iceland. There are Pentecostal churches in Keflavík, Akureyri and the capital. A website, Gospel Iceland a site in Icelandic, also exists for the movement in Iceland. Vörður Traustason is a contact person for the Pentecostal assembly in Iceland.
The Anglican Church is in an unusual position in Iceland. Although significant as a world faith (with 80 million members), there is a limited presence in Iceland, and future expansion has been effectively ruled out by entering instead into an "agreement of full communion" with the Lutheran Church of Iceland, known as the Porvoo agreement. Thus, Anglicans may effectively consider themselves to be Lutheran whilst in Iceland, and the two bodies have a full inter-recognition of each other's faith and practice, sacramental life, and ministry. Nonetheless, a single Anglican congregation meets monthly in Reykjavik, using the Lutheran Hallgrímskirkja church building to worship in the English language according to the rites of the Church of England.
The Seventh-day Adventists have some organization in Iceland. They have their own website and also a local conference. Gavin Anthony is a leading figure in Adventism in Iceland. [4] That said, growth has been static for ten years and the Adventists tend to indicate this is caused by the generalized secularism of the nation. The group represents less than .3% of the population.
The Mormons have a fairly small presence in Iceland, but worth mentioning for historical reasons. In the nineteenth century, LDS missionaries came to Iceland and converted a few local residents. In 1855, these residents would become the genesis of the first Icelandic community overseas in Spanish Fork, Utah. [5]
Iceland's history has no record of Baptists establishing a church in Iceland until the 1980s, though not formally recognized in the Icelandic registry until 1994. Since the early 1900s fewer than 10 missionary families have attempted to start a church in Iceland. According to the national registry of Iceland, there is (and has only ever been) one Baptist church in the history of the island; It is appropriatly named: The First Baptist Church (in Icelandic: Fyrsta Baptista Kirkjan). It is a Christian church that claims to follow the teachings of the Bible. It holds separate services in both Icelandic and English. Since 1999, the Pastor Patrick Weimer (BMFP Missionary family[6]and his wife Vicki [7]established a church (registered as the Baptistakirkjan á Suðurnesjum [8])to the Icelandic speaking nationals and later merged with the English speaking church in 2006 when the military base closed. The pastor and his wife are now dual citizens having Icelandic citizenship and have taken Icelandic names; Registered as: Viktoría Karlsdóttir and Patrekur Vilhjálmsson.
Johnny G. Wright (served in Iceland 1989 - 2006)was the first pastor of the First Baptist Church upon its formal registration in 1994. Michelle Harrison[9]is a Baptist Bible Fellowship (BBF)[10]missionary serving with the First Baptist Church. The Baptist Church building is located on the southern peninsula of Iceland in Njarðvík, where some 25,000 people live. Weekly attendance (75% of which is youth) is usually 80–120 people (despite only 30 being registered).
Although the registry lists only one Baptist church, Jeremy Gresham and Andy Hansen are Baptist missionaries who have seen a work begin in Garðabær, a suburb of Reykjavík.
Several of the other groups, like the Jehovah's Witness, are in fact larger than the Mormons. The Watchtower estimates the nation has 289 Jehovah's Witnesses in five congregations [11]. The National Registry (see below) estimates them at over twice that number.
Eastern Orthodoxy, both Serbian and Russian, has a small presence on the island. Various other Christian denominations are represented with fewer than 1,000 registered adherents.
A small minority practice a variety of non-Christian faiths, whose total numbers account for about one percent of the population. Of these, the Íslenska Ásatrúarfélagið is probably the largest non-Christian faith native to the island.
In the 1970s, there was interest among some Icelanders to revive the pre-Christian faith in some form. This issue is dealt with in more detail at the article on Íslenska Ásatrúarfélagið.
The Bahá'í Faith in Iceland [12] has a membership of just over 400, governed by 13 Local Spiritual Assemblies. This is the highest percentage, by population, in all of Europe,2 even though the Bahá'í Faith, having been introduced to Iceland by American Amelia Collins in 1924, was only recently established in Iceland (1972). This relatively high rate is not reflected in other Nordic countries. Danish scholar of religion Margit Warburg speculates that the Icelandic are culturally more open to religious innovation.citation needed
There are Buddhist websites based in Iceland such as Karuna from the New Kadampa Tradition. Óskar Ingólfsson is a contact person for Zen in Iceland. There is also an Icelandic Buddhist association with a few hundred members. In addition, Rev. José M. Tirado, a Jodo Shinshu priest, poet and activist with an extensive background in Zen, Vajrayana and Fourth Way studies, has taught an eclectic blend of each in a meditation-based counseling program several times in Iceland. [13]
Salmann Tamimi is a contact person for the nation's Muslim Association.
The number of Jews is uncertain, but generally agreed to be very low. The Jewish population is small enough that it has not registered and is listed as unspecified/other groups. There is no synagogue or prayer house.
There was no significant Jewish emigration to Iceland until the twentieth century, though some Jewish merchants lived in Iceland temporarily at times during the nineteenth century. Icelanders' attitude toward the Jews has ranged from sympathy for their plight to blaming them for "Bolshevism", among other things. Although most Icelanders deplored their persecution, they usually refused entry to Jews who were fleeing Nazi Germany, so the Jewish population did not rise much during the Second World War. [14]
Today the Jews remain a minor element of Iceland. Up to 60 people do attend occasional Jewish holiday parties or lectures by Jewish immigrants, but this does not necessarily reflect the actual Jewish population. The World Jewish Congress had no figures for Iceland in 1998, suggesting that the numbers are under 120 (and likely well under that figure). [15] The web site for the Catholic diocese indicated there are only 30 Jewish people in Iceland [16], but as their estimate of Muslims is unusually low they might be underreporting Judaism as well. Still, it seems that, save for the European micro-states, Iceland might have the lowest Jewish population of any European nation.
Despite the small population, the First Lady of Iceland, Dorrit Moussaieff, is a Bukharian Jew and is likely the most significant Jewish woman in Icelandic history. Moussaief was born in Israel and carries both Israeli and Icelandic citizenship. She still follows some aspects of Judaism – lighting, for example, the first candle of the menorah on the eve of Hannukkah and teaching her husband about the holiday. [17] She has introduced Jewish culture to the country in a positive way in order to counter anti-Semitism.[18]
Only eleven percent of Icelanders "don't believe in any sort of spirit, God, or life force", according to a 2004 Eurobarometer study Social Values, Science and Technology. [19] This is lower than in Norway or the United Kingdom, while expressed belief in God was about the same in Iceland as in the UK and higher than in most of Scandinavia. The majority of Icelanders preferred to express belief in a "spirit or life force" rather than in God or a generalized disbelief.
Siðmennt [20] is the largest organization promoting secularism in Iceland. It is similar to the Human-Etisk Forbund in Norway, although it only claims a membership of "well over 200" members (0.06% of the Icelandic population), a far lower proportion of the nation than the Norwegian organization. Unlike the Human-Etisk Forbund, Siðmennt is not recognized as a religious community by the state and thus does not receive any funds from the state like registered religious organizations do. People outside religious organizations still pay the "church tax" but the money goes to the University of Iceland.
There are other Icelandic institutions for the secular branches within society, such as the SAMT or Samfélag trúlausra. Vantrú is a vocal association of atheists that criticizes all things supernatural. Skeptíkus is an association of atheists on the University of Iceland campus.
| Religious group | number | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| Christian organisations: | ||
| Church of Iceland | 252,461 | 80.7 |
| Reykjavík Free Church | 7,498 | 2.4 |
| Hafnarfjörður Free Church | 5,024 | 1.6 |
| Reykjavík Independent Church | 2,768 | 0.9 |
| Roman Catholic Church | 7,977 | 2.5 |
| Pentecostal Church | 1,963 | 0.6 |
| Seventh-day Adventist Church | 757 | 0.2 |
| The Way, Free Church | 734 | 0.2 |
| Jehovah's Witnesses | 682 | 0.2 |
| The Cross | 669 | 0.2 |
| The Icelandic Christ-Church | 249 | 0.1 |
| Parish of St. Nicholas of the Russian Orthodox Church | 200 | 0.1 |
| The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | 178 | 0.1 |
| Serbian Orthodox Church | 167 | 0.1 |
| Kefas - Christian Community | 158 | 0.1 |
| Betania | 155 | 0.0 |
| The Church of Evangelism | 94 | 0.0 |
| Sjónarhæð Congregation | 59 | 0.0 |
| First Baptist Church | 28 | 0.0 |
| The Believers' Fellowship | 33 | 0.0 |
| Homechurch | 11 | 0.0 |
| Other religious groups: | ||
| Asa Faith Society | 1,149 | 0.4 |
| Reykjavíkurgoðorð (Asa Faith) | 20 | 0.0 |
| Buddhist Association of Iceland | 758 | 0.2 |
| Bahá'í Faith | 399 | 0.1 |
| Muslim Association | 371 | 0.1 |
| Zen in Iceland - Night Pasture | 68 | 0.0 |
| Family Federation for World Peace and Unification International | 4 | 0.0 |
| Other and not specified | 19,524 | 6.2 |
| Outside religious organizations | 8,714 | 2.8 |
According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005,3
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