Norway consecrates first new cathedral in Europe in a decade

Norway has consecrated the first cathedral to be built in Europe in a decade, according to the Nordic Bishops' Conference. 

The New Saint Olav cathedral in the prelature of Trondheim, 400 kilometres north of Oslo, has a capacity of 450 people and was built on the site of the Saint Olav cathedral, which had fallen into disrepair and was demolished. 

Priests and parishioners had held Mass in a World War II bunker for the past two and a half years.

An envoy of Pope Francis, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, attended the Mass on November 19.

Norway has about 125,000 registered members of the Church, making it home to the largest Catholic community in Scandinavia.

Numbers have soared from a few thousand in the 1960s due to immigration from Poland, the Philippines, and other predominantly Catholic countries.

The country is home to about 3.8 million members of the Lutheran Church, comprising 73 percent of the county's population.

Two German Catholic charities made substantial financial contributions to the building costs, including funding for Bavarian limestone instead of cheaper tiles, as originally planned due to limited resources.