Territory Iceland Churches 18 Area 103,000 km² Country Iceland Patron saint Saint Thorlak | Parishes 6 Denomination Roman Catholic Cathedral Landakotskirkja Church 18 Secular priests 6 | |
 | ||
Metropolitan Immediately Subject to the Holy See Population
- Total
- Catholics (as of 2014)
325,671
11,454 (3.5%) | ||
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Reykjavík is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church which covers the whole of the country of Iceland, and numbered 11,454 Catholics on January 1, 2014. It reports directly to the Holy See of Rome.
Contents
History
The Apostolic Prefecture of Iceland was created in 1923 and this was elevated to an Apostolic Administration in 1929, which in turn was elevated to the status of a diocese in 1968. In 2015 the then bishop, Pierre Bürcher retired and Father Dávid Bartimej Tencer, OFM Cap., was appointed to succeed him as the fifth bishop of the diocese. The bishop of Reykjavík participates in the Scandinavian Bishops Conference. The vicar general is Fr. Patrick Breen, rector of Landakot Cathedral, Christ the King Parish.
The Diocese of Reykjavík is a modern creation. The medieval church was represented by the sees of Skálholt (created 1056) and Hólar (1106), but these became Lutheran during the Reformation. (These two sees were amalgamated in 1801 into a single diocese under the Bishop of Iceland in the Lutheran Church of Iceland.) Iceland remained without Roman Catholic prelates until the Apostolic Prefecture was established at Reykjavík in 1923.
Apostolic Prefecture of Iceland
- Martin Meulenberg, SMM (12 June 1923 – 3 August 1941)
- Jóhannes Gunnarsson, SMM (23 February 1942 – 14 October 1967)
Diocese of Reykjavík
- Hendrik Hubert Frehen, SMM (18 October 1968 – 31 October 1986)
- Alfred James Jolson, SJ (12 December 1987 – 21 March 1994)
- Joannes Gijsen (24 May 1996 – 30 October 2007)
- Pierre Bürcher (30 October 2007 – 18 September 2015)
- Dávid Bartimej Tencer, OFM Cap. (18 September 2015 –)
Coat of arms
The proposal of coat of arms created Marek Sobola, a heraldic specialist from Slovakia, who also made a coat of arms for the new Bishop Tencer recently. These are based on the Icelandic flag and an older stamp of the Diocese. He prepared three different variations. Then the priests, nuns and the staff at the Bishop᾿s office, a total of 42 persons, were involved in choosing the ones they thought were best, and thus the final selection was made.