The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1953-07-31

many achievements that rar
speare, afterwards Pope Adri;
and outstanding figures in the his
tory of Norwegian Catholicism.
The only Englishman ever elect
ed to the papacy, Cardinal Breaks
peare was an Augustinian monk
who became attached to the Roman
Curia after having served as abbot
of monastery in southern France.
During the pontificate of Blessed
Pope Eugene III, he was made
Bishop of Albano and created a
Cardinal. Early in the year 1853
or perhaps late in 1852, he was
sent to Norway as Papal Legate
on mission that was destined TO
have profound influence on the
political and social, as we'll as the
religious future of the country.
When Cardinal Breakspeare
landed at Stavanger, he found
Norway in many ways still back
ward country. Christianity was on
ly a little more than a hundred
years old. and many pagan ad bar.
barous customs still survived among
the people. Many abuses had crept
into the usages of the clergy and
in the civil institutions of the
country.
Select Jon Birpisson
AT Nidaros, as Trondheim was
then known, and where the re.
mains of st. Olav, the king who
was greatly responsible for the
spread of Catholicism in Norway
are still preserved, Cardinal
Breakspeare established the Nor
wegian Archiepiscopal See and
consecrated Jon Brigisson AS Arch.
bishop. The new See had iurisdlc
tion over the Dioceses of Bergen
Oslo, Stavaneer, and of Hamar
which the Cardinal founded the
same year. All these Sees had pre-.
viously been under the control OF
the See of Lund in Sweden, then
a Danish town. Under the new Nor.
wegian ecclesiastical province were
placed alsb the Sees of Iceland,
Greenland, the Hebrides, the Ork-
nev Islands, and the Isle of Man.
However, before establishing
the Norwegian Archiepiscopal See
ON July 20 1883 Cardinal
Breakspeare has already accom-
plished work of the greatest inn
portance in Norway. The establish.
ment of the Archieniscopal See
merely marked the conclusion of a
mission undertaken by the Cardin-
al that was destined TO be one of
the governing influences in the
cultural and ecclesiastical history
of the country for long time to
come.
One of the first things the Leg
ate did was to call national con
vention of clergymen and promin-
ent laymen, the first of its kind
ever held in Norway. To this con
vention, attended by the three Nor
wegian kings-Sigurd, Eystein and
Inee-and by the Bishops of Nor
way, the Legate brought the re
forming ideas of Pope St Gregory
VII.
The achievements of the con
vention were vital and far-reach-
ing. II severed the Church from
its dependence on the State and
placed il directly under the au-
thority of the Pope. II led TO the
free election of bishops and the
REIMBURSEMENT on the part of
founders of churches of the right
TO appoint priests 10 them. All this
meant that the secular power gave
I'M its control over the Norwegian
clergy. Meanwhile a law was rati-
fled giving the people the right
to make gifts to the Church. With
this provision the Church III Nor
way was assured solid financial
basis.
Peters Pence
These were only some of the
vital reforms of the Nidaros con-
vention. The clergy was not only
made economically independent of
the State, but exempted from mil