Hansen, a 46-year-old former Vatican diplomat and seminary professor, succeeded Bishop Bernt Eidsvig, who led the diocese for two transformational decades in which the Catholic population dramatically expanded, driven by immigration.
Norway consists of three Latin Rite jurisdictions: the Diocese of Oslo, the Territorial Prelature of Trondheim, and the Territorial Prelature of Tromsø.
The first sign of a major leadership transition came in 2019, with the appointment of the then 45-year-old Bishop Erik Varden as the head of Territorial Prelature of Trondheim.
Hansen’s arrival in Oslo could be seen as the second step in what may become a three-part change in the Norwegian Catholic hierarchy.
The third and final step could be the appointment of a new leader of the Territorial Prelature of Tromsø, vacant since August 2023.
Hansen’s journey to leadership of the Oslo diocese has taken plenty of surprising turns. Up to the age of 20, he was a high church Lutheran. His reception into the Catholic Church coincided with a call to the priesthood.
His ordination in 2007, at the age of 27, launched a journey that took him to some of the world’s great cities, including London, Rome, Vienna, and New York. In November 2024, when Pope Francis named him coadjutor Bishop of Oslo, he was serving as a professor at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin traveled to Oslo in January 2025 to preside at Hansen’s episcopal ordination — a noteworthy mark of esteem.
Hansen’s arrival in Oslo has added further heft to the Nordic bishops’ conference, a body already contributing significantly to global Catholic debates despite its modest size.
Given Hansen and Varden’s ages, they could potentially serve together for the next three decades, possibly joined by a third Generation X bishop in Tromsø. Some speculate that would give them time to build something remarkable on the foundations laid by preceding generations.
Hansen discussed the path ahead in an email interview with The Pillar.
Your episcopal motto is ‘Lex tua veritas’ (‘Your law is truth’) from Psalm 118. Why did you choose it?
During many years of my priesthood, I have recited the 1962 Roman breviary. As a result, I came across the section of Psalm 118 with these words every Sunday for None. They always struck me. Not only as a canonist who believes in the good and necessary place of law in the Church’s life, but also as a Christian who seeks to adhere to the Law of God as given and lived by His only-begotten Son.
And then there are the different ways to read and understand these words, including that the law of God is the truth, again pointing to Our Lord. When time came to select a motto, it seemed a good fit.
You became a Catholic at 19, I believe. Could you describe what led you to this decision?
I was actually 20 years old. I was an active and engaged member of the Lutheran Church of Norway during my last years of high school and followed the many divisive debates among Lutherans in Norway at the time closely.
The disagreements over eucharistic communion and the role of bishops in that church, and the only occasional eucharistic services celebrated in my parish led me to question my belonging in the then-state Church of Norway.
Being a rather avid reader and a “high church Lutheran” who had moved toward transubstantiation and a more apostolic understanding of the Church, I sought out the local Catholic parish and instruction in the faith. The rest, as they say, is history.
You are only 46, but your journey to the See of Oslo has taken you to a remarkable list of places, including London, Rome, Tegucigalpa, Vienna, New York, and Baltimore.
Looking back, do you have a sense of why God led you through all these places, and then back to Norway?
God’s providence has no doubt been at work in my life and brought me closer to the Lord and to His people in many places and in many roles. When I was appointed to Oslo, I observed to our national Catholic magazine that I have been asked to minister in many ways, but everywhere I have been and whatever I have been asked to do there has been great joy and peace.
Each place where I have ministered, I have received much and grown as a result. My hope now is that this rich experience will be of service to the local Church of Oslo.
Do you see any significant turning points in your life, where you could have gone in a very different direction?
Once I sensed the call to the Catholic priesthood (something that occurred almost as soon as I decided to seek full communion), there has been no question of where my life would go. I neither “fought” my vocation, nor have I regretted offering my life to God.
In high school, I was interested in politics and thought about a military career. But these plans soon faded. I found the pearl of great price in a life dedicated to the Church.
How would you describe the Diocese of Oslo to a Catholic who lives on the other side of the world?
Imagine the universal Church, with all her languages and cultures, crammed into less than 30 parishes, numbering perhaps 250,000, existing in a nominally Protestant context, in a largely secularized society that is slowly awakening to a need for God.
Add to that about 90 priests, a growing crop of seminarians, 15 small convents or communities, and the millennial celebration of our evangelization through the martyrdom of our patron saint only five years away, and you have a sense of the Diocese of Oslo.
Do you think there’s a greater openness to Catholicism in Norway today than when you were growing up? If so, what do you think the reason is?
There has no doubt been a turn toward much greater openness. The reasons are many, but some stand out: the visit of Pope St. John Paul II in 1989, the growing number of Norwegians who have visited Catholic countries like Spain and Italy, a social and cultural interest in religion, and a strong spiritual thirst all contribute.
The rapid growth of the Church over the past 20 years has also made us much more visible. The large-scale coverage in Norwegian media of the death of Pope Francis and election of Pope Leo was unthinkable even in 2013, and surprisingly positive and accurate (neither had been assured in the past).
As you took up the office of Bishop of Oslo, you said you would focus on three priorities in the years ahead: ‘evangelization, charitable work, and the pastoral care in our parishes.’
Why did you identify these areas as priorities?
I started out by pointing to the millennial anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Olav in 2030 and the guidance we will receive from Pope Leo as the main points of departure for me in these next years. Then I pointed to the three.
Evangelization, because we cannot as Christians do anything other. We are commanded to and should feel compelled to share the Gospel of the Risen Lord.
Charitable work, because as a growing diocese in a very wealthy country, we must remember our obligation to those in need. New forms of poverty — loneliness, addiction, children unable to participate in school activities due to limited means — are on display in Norway. We cannot sit back and do nothing.
Our parishes are where our faithful hear the Word of God proclaimed, celebrate and receive the sacraments, and are shepherded towards eternal life. It is in our parish communities that our many national and linguistic groups gather and find support. The diocese should aid and support our parishes and assist our priests who so valiantly serve our people.
You served in 2007 to 2008 as secretary to Bishop Bernt Eidsvig, who you have just succeeded as Bishop of Oslo.
How would you sum up his contribution to the Church in Norway?
His legacy is summed up in two realities, one very concrete and one pastoral.
Bishop Eidsvig, in addition to being Bishop of Oslo, administered the Prelature of Trondheim (now led by Bishop Varden) for 11 years. During that time, he raised funds for and oversaw the building of the new Cathedral Church of St. Olav in Trondheim. It was consecrated in 2016. This was the only new Catholic cathedral in Europe being built at the time. I know of none since.
His pastoral legacy is the current state of the Diocese of Oslo. He took over a diocese of some 45,000 faithful in 2005. Following the enlargement of the European Union, a massive surge of labor migrants, mostly from Poland and Lithuania, enlarged our diocese such that massive efforts were needed to provide all the faithful with pastoral care.
Bishop Eidsvig worked very hard to bring in more priests, establish new parishes, facilitate catechesis in various languages, and expand the diocesan curia. As a result, I have been handed a diocese full of life.
As the Bishop of Oslo, Bishop Erik Varden is your episcopal neighbor.
How well do you know him, and what kind of role do you think he plays in Norway and the wider Catholic world?
Bishop Erik and I first met when I was in seminary and he was a monk at Mount St. Bernard in England. We then overlapped for a time in Rome.
Since my appointment, we speak often, and our episcopal collaboration is taking shape — including on national issues such as the Church’s social and political engagement, and the distribution of priests in Norway’s three jurisdictions.
Bishop Erik is an evangelizer. His talks, retreats, books, podcasts, and his blog all support the building of the Kingdom, well beyond his prelature.
In Norway, his role as Bishop in Trondheim is key, as he serves as the main Catholic guardian of the cult of St. Olav, our national patron.
I will at times joke that we have found the optimal form of division of labor: He preaches and teaches, I — as a canonist — write decrees.
You served in the U.S for more than five years, as a papal diplomat at the UN in New York, and a seminary professor in Baltimore.
What impression do you have of the U.S. Church?
The Church in the United States is vibrant and faithful, and has a bright future. There is no doubt that Catholics across the world look to the U.S. Church for inspiration and guidance. Most young Catholics in Norway, for example, follow Catholic podcasts, YouTube videos, talks, blogs, and so on from the U.S.
By the combination of the English and the Spanish language, what happens in the U.S. Church impacts the entire Catholic world — a reality which will grow with our new Holy Father.
To see U.S. parishes offer beautiful liturgies, provide care for the poor and those in need, stand for life and family, and gather together Catholics from many languages and cultures is to see much of what I would hope for in our own parishes.
Would you permit me to ask a question about your beard? Western prelates tend to be clean-shaven, while Eastern bishops are invariably bearded.
Is there a meaning behind your beard, or is it just a personal preference?
It is a personal preference, kept since my time as a conscripted soldier in the Norwegian Army, stationed on the Russian border.
On two occasions in Rome, higher prelates pointed to my beard, one assuming I was a Capuchin friar, the other that I was an [Eastern Catholic] priest. I corrected the mistake and observed that I was from Norway. The look I got back from both seemed to say: “They were Vikings once, the beard makes sense.”