Catholic Bishops of Norway Petition Pope Leo XIV to Proclaim a Special Year of Jubilee in 2030-31 to Spark the Faith for the Millennium of their Martyr

The Norwegian bishops have petitioned Pope Leo XIV to proclaim a special Year of Jubilee for the Catholic Church in Norway lasting from the feast of St Olav, 29 July, in 2030 until the feast of the translation of St Olav’s relics, 3 August, in 2031.

A Year of Jubilee is for Catholics a year of special grace that highlights the importance of pilgrimage, prayer, conversion, and reconciliation.

The Catholic Bishops Rejoice in Audience Accorded Church of Norway;

Bishop Fredrik Hansen and Bishop Erik Varden were delighted that the bishops of the Lutheran church of Norway encountered Pope Leo XIV in an audience on Aug. 26.

‘We have excellent ecumenical relations with the church of Norway and are pleased that the bishops have an opportunity to meet Pope Leo XIV. We look forward to the millennium of Norway’s conversion and hope this jubilee will give occasion for broad ecumenical collaboration’, says Bishop Fredrik Hansen.

‘It is on account of St Olav that we prepare to keep an important millennium in 2030 and 2031’, stresses Bishop Erik Varden. ‘St Olav is at the heart of the celebration. 29 July 2030 will mark the millennium of his martyr’s death at Stiklestad; 3 August 2031 will mark the millennium of his exhumation, when his body was found incorrupt. On that day he was proclaimed a saint not just for Norway, but for all of Christendom.’

‘Such a Year of Jubilee will give both the Norwegian faithful and pilgrims come from abroad a unique chance to follow in the footsteps of St Olav and to renew their faith in gratitude for the Christian patrimony with which Norway has been blessed, their eyes set on the Church’s present and future task in this country’, says Bishop Hansen.

Bishop Varden adds: ‘As the name suggests, the Year of Jubilee will be not least an occasion to rejoice in what St Olav’s Christian legacy has done to enrich our country’s culture and self-understanding, our code of justice and our European connectedness.’
Source - https://www.katolsk.no/nyheter/2026/08/de-katolske-biskopene-ber-pave-leo-xiv-utrope-jubelar-i-norge-i-2030-2031-norwegian