Nord-Hålogaland () is a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

in the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

. It covers the

churches in

Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...

and

Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...

counties as well as in the territory of

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

. The diocese is seated in the city of Tromsø at the Tromsø Cathedral, the seat of the presiding bishop, Olav Øygard (bishop since 2014).

History

Originally, this area was a part of the great

Diocese of Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

, which covered all of

Northern Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...

from

Romsdalen Romsdalen is a valley in the western part of Norway. The long valley runs from the Romsdalsfjorden through Rauma Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county and into Lesja Municipality in Innlandet county. It is the valley of the Rauma (river), Rau ...

and north (

, and

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

counties). On 30 December 1803, the King of Norway named Peder Olivarius Bugge the "Bishop of

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

and

Romsdal Romsdal is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal traditional comprises the areas that are part of Aukra Municipality, Molde Municipal ...

" and also named Mathias Bonsach Krogh the "Bishop of

and

", thus essentially splitting the diocese into two starting in 1804, although legally it was one diocese with two bishops. The newly appointed Bishop Krogh (in 1804) made Alstahaug Church the seat of his bishopric in the north, while Bishop Bugge stayed in

. The new diocese was legally created on 14 June 1844 as '' Tromsø stift'' and it was to be seated in the city of

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

. The new Tromsø Cathedral was completed in 1864. The name of the diocese was changed to ''Hålogaland bispedømme'' in 1918. When Svalbard became part of Norway in 1920, it also became a part of this diocese. In 1952, the Diocese of Hålogaland was split into two: the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland (Nordland county) and the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland (

, and

Bishops

The

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

s of the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland since its creation in 1952 when the old Diocese of Hålogaland was divided into two: *1952-1961: Alf Wiig *1962-1972: Monrad Norderval *1972-1979: Kristen Kyrre Bremer *1979-1990: Arvid Nergård *1990-2001: Ola Steinholt *2002-2014: Per Oskar Kjølaas *Since 2014: Olav Øygard

Cathedral

Construction of the new Tromsø Cathedral began in 1861. It was designed by architect Christian Heinrich Grosch. The cathedral was built of wood in

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

style. The interior is dominated by the altar, a copy of the ''Resurrection'' by Adolph Tidemand.

Structure

The Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland is divided into nine deaneries (). Each one corresponds to several municipalities in the diocese. Each municipality is further divided into one or more

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es which each contain one or more congregations. See each municipality below for lists of churches and parishes within them.

Media gallery

Domkirken i Tromso innvendig.jpg, Interior
Tromsø Cathedral Tromsø domkyrkje.jpg, Side entrance
Tromsø Cathedral Tromsø domkyrkje2.jpg, Front
Tromsø Cathedral

References

External links

Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland websiteTromsø Cathedral picture gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diocese Of Nord-Haalogaland Nord-Haalogaland Organisations based in Tromsø Religious organizations established in 1804 Finnmark Troms 1804 establishments in Norway