page_title: Religion in Norway
section_title: State policy
hierarchical_section_title: Religion in Norway / State policy
caption_attribution_description: English: Baptist kirken in Bergen, Norway.
context_page_description: Religion in Norway is dominated by Lutheran Christianity, with 69.9% of the population belonging to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Norway in 2018. The Catholic Church is the next largest Christian church at 3.0%. The unaffiliated make up 17.4% of the population. Islam is followed by 3.3% of the population.
  A bill passed in 2016 and effective as of 1 January 2017 created the Church of Norway as an independent legal entity. Until the 2012 constitutional amendment the Evangelical-Lutheran religion was the public religion of the State. The Church of Norway will still obtain financial support from the state of Norway, along with other religious communities.
  Early Norwegians, like all of the people of Scandinavia, were adherents of Norse paganism; the Sámi having a shamanistic religion. Norway was gradually Christianized by Christian missionaries between 1000 and 1150. Before the Protestant Reformation in 1536/1537, Norwegians were part of the Catholic Church.
context_section_description: An act approved in 2016 created the Church of Norway as an independent legal entity, effective from 1 January 2017. The Church of Norway was previously the country's public religion, and its central administrative functions were carried out by the Royal Ministry of Government Administration, Reform and Church Affairs until 2017. The Evangelical Lutheran Church is still mentioned in the constitution.
  The state also supports religious aid organisations such as Norwegian Church Aid financially. Clergy train in the theological faculties of the University of Oslo and the University of Tromsø, as well as VID Specialized University, formerly Misjonshøgskolen (School of Mission and Theology) in Stavanger and Menighetsfakultetet (MF Norwegian School of Theology) in Oslo. Menighetsfakultetet is by far the most important educational institution for the Norwegian clergy. Men and women can both become members of the clergy of the church. The church has two sacraments namely Baptism and Holy Communion.
caption: A Norwegian Baptist church in Bergen where many of the worshipers are Christian immigrants.
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