Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland


Nord-Hålogaland is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers the Church of Norway churches in Troms og Finnmark county as well as in the territory of Svalbard. The diocese is seated in the city of Tromsø at the Tromsø Cathedral, the seat of the presiding bishop, Olav Øygard.

History

Originally, this area was a part of the great Diocese of Nidaros, which covered all of Northern Norway from Romsdalen and north. On 30 December 1803, the King of Norway named Peder Olivarius Bugge the "Bishop of Trondheim and Romsdal" and also named Mathias Bonsach Krogh the "Bishop of Nordland and Finnmark", thus essentially splitting the diocese into two starting in 1804, although legally it was one diocese with two bishops. The newly appointed Bishop Krogh made Alstahaug Church the seat of his bishopric in the north, while Bishop Bugge stayed in Trondheim. The new diocese was legally created on 14 June 1844 as Tromsø stift and it was to be seated in the city of Tromsø. 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 and the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

Bishops

The Bishops of the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland since its creation in 1952 when it was split off from the Diocese of Hålogaland:
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 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 parishes which each contain one or more congregations. See each municipality below for lists of churches and parishes within them.
Deanery Municipalities
Tromsø domprostiTromsø, Karlsøy, Svalbard
Alta prostiAlta, Hasvik, Loppa
Hammerfest prostiGamvik, Hammerfest, Lebesby, Måsøy, Nordkapp
Indre Finnmark prostiKarasjok, Kautokeino, Nesseby, Tana, Porsanger
Indre Troms prostiBalsfjord, Bardu, Lavangen, Målselv, Salangen
Nord-Troms prostiKvænangen, Kåfjord, Lyngen, Nordreisa, Skjervøy, Storfjord
Senja prostiDyrøy, Senja, Sørreisa
Trondenes prostiGratangen, Harstad, Ibestad, Kvæfjord, Tjeldsund
Varanger prostiBerlevåg, Båtsfjord, Sør-Varanger, Vadsø, Vardø

Media gallery