List of Catholics from Nordic countries
Encyclopedia
Despite being a mostly non-Catholic
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....

 region, there have been significant movements in Catholicism in Nordic countries throughout history. The position of Nordic Catholics has at times been very difficult due to legislation outlawing Catholicism, but the Catholic populations of the Nordic countries have seen some growth in the region in recent years, particularly in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. However, at present none of the Nordic nations have a Catholic population above 2% (http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/country/sc1.html).

In Sweden, the patent of tolerance rescinded anti-Catholic laws and Catholics were once again allowed to settle and practice their religion 1781Gustavus III (http://runeberg.org/nfcb/0687.html) and the Vicariate Apostolic of Sweden was erected in 1783. It was elevated to a diocese in 1953 (http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dstos.html).

The Norwegian Constitution of 1814 denied Jews and Catholics (particularly Jesuits) entrance in Norway. It also stated that attendance in a Lutheran church was compulsory. The ban on Jews was lifted in 1851, but members of the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

 would not be allowed to enter Norway until 1956.

Notable Nordic Catholics

  • Anders Arborelius
    Anders Arborelius
    Lars Anders Arborelius became the Roman Catholic bishop of Stockholm in 1998.-Early life and ordination:Arborelius was born in Sorengo, Switzerland, of Swedish parents, and grew up in Lund in southern Sweden. He converted to Catholicism at the age of 20 and entered the Carmelites...

     is the first ethnically Swedish Catholic bishop (1998) since the Reformation (see http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/barbor.html), convert.
  • Count Nils Bielke (1706-1765), converted in Rome in 1731, and became a Roman senator and papal chamberlain (see http://runeberg.org/nfbc/0191.html), convert
  • Queen Christina of Sweden
    Christina of Sweden
    Christina , later adopted the name Christina Alexandra, was Queen regnant of Swedes, Goths and Vandals, Grand Princess of Finland, and Duchess of Ingria, Estonia, Livonia and Karelia, from 1633 to 1654. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King Gustav II Adolph and his wife Maria Eleonora...

    , convert
  • Blessed Elisabeth Hesselblad
    Elisabeth Hesselblad
    Blessed Elisabeth Hesselblad, religious name Maria Elisabetta Hesselblad, was a Swedish nurse, nun, and beatified woman....

    , convert (seehttp://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20000409_beat-Hesselblat_en.html).
  • Czeslaw Kozon
    Czeslaw Kozon
    Czeslaw Kozon is the Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Copenhagen. His parents were emigres from Poland who fled the Communist takeover of that country. He was appointed bishop in March 1995....

    : Bishop of Copenhagen.
  • Halldor Laxness
    Halldór Laxness
    Halldór Kiljan Laxness was a twentieth-century Icelandic writer. Throughout his career Laxness wrote poetry, newspaper articles, plays, travelogues, short stories, and novels...

    : Icelandic novelist; winner of 1955 Nobel Prize for Literature
  • Helena Nyblom
    Helena Nyblom
    Helena Nyblom was a Swedish children's story author. She is perhaps most remembered for The Swan Suit.-Biography:...

     (1843-1926), Danish-born Swedish writer, convert
  • Count Christopher de Paus
    Christopher de Paus
    Christopher Tostrup Paus, from 1923 The Count of Paus, usually known as Christopher Paus was a Norwegian land owner, papal chamberlain and count, known as philanthropist, art collector and socialite in the late 19th and early 20th century...

     (1862-1943), a Norwegian land owner who converted and became a papal chamberlain
    Papal chamberlain
    Papal chamberlain was one of the highest honours that could be bestowed on a Catholic layman by the Pope, and was often given to members of noble families. It was mostly an honorary position, but a chamberlain served the Pope for one week per year during official ceremonies...

     and Roman Count, convert
  • Brita Collett Paus
    Brita Collett Paus
    Brita Lucie Collett Paus was a Norwegian humanitarian leader and the founder of Fransiskushjelpen, a Catholic charitable organisation in Norway...

    , the founder of Fransiskushjelpen
    Fransiskushjelpen
    Fransiskushjelpen is a Catholic charitable organisation in Norway, founded in by Brita Collett Paus in 1956.It is connected to the Franciscan order....

    , convert
  • Sven Stolpe
    Sven Stolpe
    Sven Stolpe , was a Swedish writer, translator, journalist, literary scholar and critic. He was active in Swedish literary and intellectual discussion for most of his life...

  • Jón Sveinsson
    Jón Sveinsson
    Jón "Nonni" Stefán Sveinsson was an Icelandic children's writer and member of the Society of Jesus....

     - A Jesuit author from Iceland
    Iceland
    Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

    ; wrote in Icelandic, but lived in France, convert
  • Olaf Thommessen
    Olaf Thommessen
    Olaf Henning Thommessen is a Norwegian businessman and politician for the Liberal Party.Olaf Thommessen is a Roman Catholic of French and Norwegian descent. His mother was Anette Thommessen , a French national. Annette got her Norwegian surname when she was married to Henrik Peter Thommessen from...

     - Oslo politician and businessman (of Norwegian and French descent); not a convert
  • Birgitta Trotzig
    Birgitta Trotzig
    Birgitta Trotzig was a Swedish writer who was elected to the Swedish Academy in 1993. She was one of Sweden's most celebrated authors, and wrote prose fiction and non-fiction, as well as prose poetry.-Biography:...

  • Sigrid Undset
    Sigrid Undset
    Sigrid Undset was a Norwegian novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928.-Biography:Undset was born in Kalundborg, Denmark, but her family moved to Norway when she was two years old. In 1924, she converted to Catholicism and became a lay Dominican...

     - Norwegian writer, convert
  • Gunnel Vallquist
    Gunnel Vallquist
    Gunnel Vallquist is a Swedish writer and translator. Born in Stockholm, Vallquist was elected member of the Swedish Academy in 1982. Gunnel Vallquist is of the Catholic Church and has written several essays on Catholic religion of our time, among them reports from the Second Vatican Council...

     (b. 1918), Swedish writer, critic and translator, Member of the Swedish Academy
    Swedish Academy
    The Swedish Academy , founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden.-History:The Swedish Academy was founded in 1786 by King Gustav III. Modelled after the Académie française, it has 18 members. The motto of the Academy is "Talent and Taste"...

    , convert (seehttp://www.svenskaakademien.se/litiuminformation/site/page.asp?Page=3&IncPage=847&Destination=158)
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