Thanks!
Preses of the Norwegian Bishops' Conference, the 69-year-old bishop, Helga Haugland Byfuglien (English Wikipedia article -
link), said this to NRK on Saturday:
(BTW: One can see her to the left in the first photo, while the woman to the right is Ragnhild Jepsen, Dean of Nidaros Cathedral.)
''They wanted this tour to Nidaros to be part of The Princess' preparations for the confirmation later this summer. The idea of The RF was that The Princess should experience walking as the pilgrims did, looking down towards Nidaros (on her way down to Nidaros Cathedral, she means) and arriving here today with the family to get to know this very special church and holy place.''
Read about the pilgrim route in English here:
1 -
2.
And to those who wonder about the name Nidaros:
1. Was the medieval name of Trondheim when it was the capital of Norway's first Christian Kings.
2. And again from January 1st, 1930. But after widespread opposition to the name, it was restored back to Trondheim by The Storting on March 6th, 1931.
3. Is the name of the modern Lutheran diocese of Trondheim (''The Diocese of Nidaros'') since the Protestant Reformation in 1537, which ended ''The Roman Catholic Diocese of Nidaros'' (established in 1068 and elevated to Archdiocese in 1152).
Read more in this English Wikipedia article (
link).
Byfuglien also said she was looking forward to showing The Princess around the Cathedral, which she did when the latter arrived there with The Crown Prince after having walked for four hours. The Crown Princess OTOH was already present, waiting for them.
''We will walk together (around Cathedral, she means) and have stops at important points such as the baptismal font, the octagon and the Sámi altar. Along the way, we will talk and tell her about this church and how our churches are organized. I am open to questions and I hope it will be exciting and educational.''
And yesterday, The CP-family attended a service there after having spent the night at the state-owned Royal residence *Stiftsgården* in Trondheim (English RH-article about the place -
link).
Post by Iceflower in the ''Current Events'' thread (
link).
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About Nidaros Cathedral (Nidarosdomen), the world’s northernmost medieval cathedral and Norway’s national sanctuary:
Lots of information in English here at the Cathedral's own website, where one can see shorts films, including one from the air (
link).
English Wikipedia article (
link).
Photos:
Outside:
1 -
2 - 3 -
4
From the Nave looking into the Choir (
link).
The Choir:
1 -
2
The Nave:
1 -
2
Yes, it's a gothic masterpiece and, in my Norwegian opinion, without doubt the most impressive church-building in The North. And it isn't just Norwegian experts/people who are saying it, because I've heard both Danish/Swedish experts in architecture and tourists say the same thing.
So yes, a building we in the Nordic countries should be really, really proud of.
The Cathedral's modern connection with Norway's own independent Royal Family:
*The coronation of King Haakon VII and Queen Maud in 1906.
*The Consecration of King Olav V in 1958.
*The Consecration of King Harald V and Queen Sonja in 1991.
*And celebratory events such as the wedding of Princess Märtha Louise and Ari Behn in 2002 and The Regent-Couple's Consecration-Jubilee (25th Anniversary) in 2016.
English RH-article on coronations/consecrations (
link):
[...] Article 12 of the Norwegian Constitution of 1814 established that the King was to be crowned and anointed in Nidaros Cathedral.
[...]
In 1908 the Article on coronation was stricken from the Constitution as the coronation ceremony came to be regarded as undemocratic and archaic. The Storting voted by a large majority to repeal the Article.
Thus, when King Haakon VII died in 1957, there was no basis in law for a coronation in Nidaros Cathedral. This did not, however, mean that there was any prohibition against holding such a ceremony in Nidaros Cathedral, if the new King so desired.
King Olav V possessed profound historical insight and was imbued with a strong sense of tradition. Therefore, he expressed a personal desire to be consecrated in Nidaros Cathedral to receive God's blessing upon his royal office. In his decision to be consecrated, King Olav V laid the foundation for the continuation of a tradition with roots going back to the hailing by the Øreting assembly and the coronations of the Norwegian kings from 1163 to 1906.
On 23 June 1991, King Harald V and Queen Sonja continued the consecration tradition in a ceremony also held in Nidaros Cathedral. [...]
Will the future King Haakon VIII also chose to be consecrated? Well, he will be the first monarch since the independence in 1905 to not be head of the church upon his accession, but the rumours are that he will go through with it anyway.
Why? Probably due to:
1. Tradition.
2. CP MM's ''strong'' personal Christian faith (which is also most likely why The Crown Prince and Ingrid went out on their little pilgrim-tour).
BTW: Read about how it affected The RF when The Church of Norway ceased to be the state-church in post 12 & 20.
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Confirmations themselves seems to have a much bigger significance in Denmark (and I imagine in Norway) than in Sweden.
The confirmation is a big thing in DK, and I assume in Norway as well.
Yes, and whether one is confirmed in The Norwegian Church (which a record-low 56% chose to do in 2018), in a humanistic way (which a record-high 18% opted for, read about how it's done in post 20) or in another way (as the rest did, i.e. in another church or in a nonfirmation), it's celebrated with a big celebratory dinner for family/friends (including grandparents, uncles/aunts, cousins, etc) where one is given a LOT of money.
And it's VERY common to use *bunad* (English Wikipedia article -
link) if you're female and suit if you're male.
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I thought that in the Norwegian Church there had to be new people to be the Confirmation sponsors.
No, in The Church of Norway, the godparents don't even have a role when it comes to confirmations.
