“The Church in your lands, while small, is growing in numbers,” rejoiced Pope Francis on February 3, 2025, as he welcomed participants in the jubilee pilgrimage promoted by the Nordic bishops' conference. “The motto of this Jubilee, as you know well, is ‘Pilgrims of Hope.’ It is my prayer, then, that your hope will be strengthened during these days. You are surely already aware of signs of hope in your home countries.”
“I also pray that your faith in the Lord Jesus, and your awareness of belonging to him and to one another in the communion of the Church, will be nourished and deepened,” Francis went on to say. “In this way, with minds and hearts attuned more fully to Christ’s transforming grace, you will be able to return to your countries full of joyful enthusiasm for sharing the great gift that you have received,” he told them.
Growth and ecumenism
The Nordic bishops’ conference includes the dioceses in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. The pontiff, who visited Sweden in 2016 to commemorate the Protestant Reformation, encouraged Catholics in northern Europe to persevere in their efforts to open up ecumenically and welcome migrants.
“We can thank Almighty God that the seeds of faith planted and watered there by generations of persevering pastors and people are bearing fruit,” Pope Francis said. By way of example, the Diocese of Stockholm, which covers the whole of Sweden under the leadership of Cardinal Anders Arborelius, currently has 1.2% Catholics, compared with 0.2% in 1950. It now has around 170 priests, compared with just 45 in the middle of the 20th century.
“I would encourage your vibrant Catholic communities to cooperate with your fellow Christians,” explained the Bishop of Rome. “In these challenging times, scarred by war in Europe and around the world, how much our human family needs a unified witness to the reconciliation, healing and peace that can come only from God,” added Francis.
The arrival of new populations—notably from Latin America, Africa, Poland, and the Middle East—has greatly contributed to the development of the local Catholic Church. Scandinavia has thus become one of the few poles of growth for Catholicism in Europe, even though it remains largely in the minority compared with Protestant churches and a prevalent atheism among a large part of the population.
Persevering in welcoming migrants
“In your multi-cultural contexts, you are called to dialogue and work together with the followers of other religions, many of them migrants whom you have welcomed so well into your societies,” Pope Francis said, asking Catholics in the Nordic countries to continue to “be beacons of welcome and fraternal solidarity.”
The Pope once again praised Sweden's tradition of hospitality, which has nonetheless moved towards a much more restrictive immigration policy since the Conservatives won the 2022 elections. In 2024, only 6,250 residence permits were granted, compared with 163,000 in 2015.
The Argentine pontiff ended his address by recalling a personal memory. “For us Latin American countries, in the times of dictatorships – in Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina – our brothers and sisters fleeing dictatorships went there.”
As provincial of the Jesuits in the 1970s, Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio had himself contributed to the exfiltration of certain political refugees to Sweden.
He also insisted on the example of solidarity to be set by Catholic communities in their midst, notably through attention to “those on the margins” and to “isolated or lonely” people, or those living in “more far-flung territories.”
Popes and Scandinavia
In addition to Pope Francis' visit to Sweden from October 31 to November 1, 2016, the region was visited by John Paul II during his 42nd apostolic journey, from June 1 to 10, 1989. At that time, the Polish pope successively traveled to Norway, Iceland, Finland, Denmark, and Sweden.
As a sign of the Vatican's current attention to these northern European Catholic communities, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin visited Oslo on January 17 and 18 to ordain the coadjutor bishop of the Norwegian capital diocese, Bishop Frederik Hansen. During his stay, the Vatican's “number two” was received by King Harald V and Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.
In his address to the Scandinavian pilgrims, Pope Francis did not mention the special situation of Greenland, a vast Danish territory at the center of international attention due to US President Donald Trump's annexation ambitions.
Greenland has around 150 Catholics—including a significant proportion of Filipino workers—and just one parish, in the city of Nuuk. Currently administered by a Franciscan of Slovenian nationality, it falls under the jurisdiction of the diocese of Copenhagen.
