Scandinavia might not be the first place you think of when you mention the Catholic Church.But the northern European countries have a long Catholic heritage, one that is documented in 100 years worth of publications that were recently donated to the Vatican Library by a New York-based association of Scandinavian Catholics.
Recent waves of immigration have augmented the Church population in Scandinavia.
The St. Ansgar’s Bulletin, the only English-language publication about the Catholic Church in Scandinavia, is ceasing publication after 100 years of circulation. It has been published by the St. Ansgar’s Scandinavian Catholic League in New York.
In May, Viggo Rambusch presented the century’s worth of bulletins and an archival CD of St. Ansgar’s publications to the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.
The bulletin was started in 1910 by Rambusch’s grandfather, Frode Rambusch. A Danish immigrant and convert, he and three friends founded St. Ansgar’s Scandinavian Catholic League at the request of New York’s archbishop at the time, Cardinal John Farley.
Over the years, St. Ansgar’s Bulletin has kept readers informed of developments in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland and the recent growth in the Catholic Church in those primarily Protestant, secularized countries.
“There was a rich Catholic tradition in Scandinavia from when Denmark converted until about 1540, when the king of Sweden wanted the wealth accumulated in monasteries and cathedrals,” explained Viggo Rambusch, who serves as the league’s treasurer.
Catholicism was banned, monasteries and cathedrals confiscated, and bishops martyred.
A turnaround began in 1850, when the practice of Catholicism was again permitted in Scandinavia. After the Second World War, the Vatican established dioceses in each country.
SIC: CTHAUS