Diocese of Bjørgvin

The Diocese of Bjørgvin (Norwegian: Bjørgvin bispedømme) is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway. The cathedral city is Bergen, Norway's second largest city. Bergen Cathedral, formerly the Church of Saint Olaf, serves as the seat of the presiding Bishop.[1][2][3] The Bishop since 2023 has been Ragnhild Jepsen.[4]

For the pre-Reformation Catholic diocese, see Ancient Diocese of Bergen.
Diocese of Bjørgvin

Bjørgvin bispedømme
Former Bishop Halvor Nordhaug
Location
CountryNorway
TerritoryHordaland, Sogn og Fjordane
Deaneries10 prosti
Statistics
Area34,083 km2 (13,160 sq mi)
Parishes189
Members481 804
Information
DenominationChurch of Norway
Established1536
CathedralBergen Cathedral
Current leadership
BishopRagnhild Jepsen
Map
Location of the Diocese of Bjørgvin
Location of the Diocese of Bjørgvin
Website
kirken.no/bjorgvin

History
Bergen Cathedral (Bergen domkirke)

Prior to 1536, the state religion of Norway was Roman Catholicism, but the government of the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway joined in with the Protestant Reformation and in 1536 it declared itself to be Lutheran, and the Church of Norway was formed. In 1537, the diocese of Bjørgvin, heir of the ancient Diocese of Bergen, consisted of the (modern) counties of Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane (with exception of the parishes of Eidfjord and Røldal).

The region of Sunnmøre (to the north) was transferred from the Diocese of Nidaros to the Diocese of Bjørgvin in 1622. The parish of Eidfjord was transferred from the Diocese of Stavanger to Bjørgvin in 1630. The parish of Røldal was transferred from the Diocese of Kristiansand to Bjørgvin in 1863. The Sunnmøre region was removed from the Diocese of Bjørgvin in 1983 when it, along with the regions of Nordmøre and Romsdal (from the Diocese of Nidaros), were established as a separate diocese, the Diocese of Møre.[5]

Name

The Old Norse form of the name for Bergen was Bjǫrgvin. The first element is berg or bjǫrg, which translates as "mountain". The last element is vin, which translates as "meadow". It is an old form of the name for the present-day city of Bergen.[6]

Structure

The Diocese of Bjørgvin is divided into ten deaneries (Norwegian: Prosti) in the new Vestland county. Each deanery corresponds to one or more 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.[7]

Deanery (Prosti)Municipalities
Bergen domprostiBergen
Åsane prostiBergen, Osterøy
Fana prostiAustevoll, Bergen, Bjørnafjorden
Hardanger og Voss prostiEidfjord, Kvam, Samnanger, Ullensvang, Ulvik, Vaksdal, Voss
Sunnhordland prostiBømlo, Etne, Fitjar, Kvinnherad, Stord, Sveio, Tysnes
Vesthordland prostiAskøy, Øygarden
Nordhordland prostiAlver. Austrheim, Fedje, Masfjorden, Modalen, Gulen, Solund
Sogn prostiAurland, Luster, Lærdal, Sogndal, Vik, Årdal
Nordfjord prostiBremanger, Gloppen, Kinn, Stad, Stryn
Sunnfjord prostiAskvoll, Fjaler, Hyllestad, Høyanger, Sunnfjord
See also: List of churches in Bjørgvin

Bishops
  • Prior to 1535 Olav Torkelsson - The last Catholic bishop
  • 1536-1557 Gjeble Pederssøn b. c.1489 - The first Lutheran bishop
  • 1557-1582 Jens Pedersen Schjelderup b. 1499
  • 1583-1607 Anders Foss
  • 1607-1615 Anders Mikkelsen Kolding
  • 1616-1636 Nils Paaske b. 1568
  • 1636-1649 Ludvig Hansen Munthe b. 1593
  • 1649-1665 Jens Pedersen Schjelderup b. 1604
  • 1665-1711 Nils Envildsen Randulf b. 1630
  • 1711-1716 Nils Pedersen Smed b. 1655
  • 1716-1723 Clemens Schmidt b. 1671
  • 1723-1731 Marcus Müller b. 1684
  • 1731-1747 Oluf Cosmussen Bornemann b. 1683
  • 1747-1757 Erik Ludvigsen Pontoppidan b. 1698
  • 1757-1762 Ole Tiedemann b. 1710
  • 1762-1774 Frederik Arentz b. 1699
  • 1774-1778 Eiler Eilersen Hagerup b. 1718
  • 1778-1779 Søren Friedlieb b. 1717

References
  1. "Bergen Domkirke" (in Norwegian). Gamle Bergen Museum.
  2. Knudsen, Jacob Frode (2001). Bergen Domkirke 700 år. Bergen.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. Lidén, Hans-Emil; Magerøy, Ellen Marie (1990). Norges kirker : Bergen. Oslo: Gyldendal. ISBN 8205123683.
  4. "Presentasjon av biskop Ragnhild Jepsen" [Presentation of bishop Ragnhild Jepsen] (in Norwegian). February 10, 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  5. Lampe, Johan Fredrik (1895). Bergen stifts biskoper og præster. Kristiania: Cammermeyers Boghandel.
  6. "Bjorgvin" (PDF). Toandos.com.
  7. "Prostia i Bjørgvin" (in Norwegian). Bjørgvin bispedømme. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
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