65° - 01.07.1968, Blaðsíða 15

people’s church as here in Iceland where 98%
consider themselves Christians. Religious sects are
few and have few followers and the Catholic con-
gregation is only a few hundred. Almost all child-
ren in Iceland are christened confirmed and
buried by the church. The congregation elects the
priests and the state pays their salaries. It is con-
gregation money which builds new churches and
keeps them in repair, the state giving only small
loans. Many new churches have risen lately, and
many more been rebuilt. Full religious freedom
exists to such an extent that the Minister of
Church Affairs can be an atheist if he wishes.
The church has self-government regarding in-
ternal matters, such as teaching and religious
rites, which are discussed at the church congress
and church councils. Only one bishop exists and
he sits in Reykjavik. The Aiding handles the ex-
ternal matters of the church, such as parish size,
clerical housing, and other financial matters con-
cerning church and state.
The church owns no property as such. Church
taxes are set by the Aiding and are very low,
only 250 kronur yearly for each person over six-
teen. Sunday monetary offerings are not the
custom, but if a big undertaking is being con-
sidered, such as the building of a new church,
most raise their hands to the volunteering of
monetary gifts. The joint affairs of church and
state go well at the present and no one has sug-
gested separating them, although it could well be
that either church or state would like to separate
sooner or later, and the church should be ready
for such an event.
Although people are friendly to the church, as
has been mentioned before, priests have certainly
been criticized at times, and church attendance
is low; even so, it is doubtful whether attendance
is less than that in the rest of Scandinavia or in
England.
With the great shifting of population to the
capitol and surroundings, there are enough priests
in urban areas, but a great need for them in rural
areas. The connection between pastor and parish-
oners is not what it used to be, with all these
changes, and the priest’s business is now more
directly connected with the church itself rather
than with cultural or public affairs.
I feel it certain that new times are on the way;
so it must be in all churches, even the Catholic.
It may well be that the experiment of letting
priests work part-time as factory employees is
an indication of the new trend.
The Icelandic church acts as other churches in
charitable affairs. Old peoples homes and charity
organizations stem directly or indirectly from
them and the priest often handles these matters,
but it is confessed that these services could be in-
creased. It is now still feeling its way with sum-
mer camps and marriage counseling information.
The biggest problem here as in other places is
to find the way to a closer connection with the
people. Most people care little about general re-
ligion and less about church matters.
The main church organ is its magazine,
KirkjuritiS, which the society of priests has pub-
lished for 50 years. It has a limited circulation
and its articles and discussions about the church
are fewer than one might desire. Undoubtedly it
is due to the new communication media that
people take less time to think and read than be-
fore, and with the increased economic welfare
of the past 20 years, people are more interested
in building up homes or seeking entertainment.
But, as said before, Icelanders are religious.
There has been much interest in the English form
of spiritualism, the scientific seeking, such as that
underlying the work being done at Duke Uni-
versity in ESP and related phenomena. And belief
in occult matters is as strong as ever, but then
neither in Iceland nor elsewhere has it been
proved that pure materialism is the essential
truth in life. On the other hand, most people
believe that there is a spiritual power behind all
life which gives it a definite purpose. And even
those who not only deny belief, but call them-
selves atheists, want to continue a purposeful
faith, preferably a Christian one.
The truth is that Christ in this country remains
the highest example of human perfection. I
readily admit that we priests often speak strongly
about God, yet few things are so temporal as
theological dogma, as is so of philosophy, with
which theology is most closely associated. The
existence of God is not dependent on human wish
or power, and we have it from Christ himself
that the truth of His words and His example must
be tested by the experience of those who follow
them. Christianity is a dogma in a sense, but
more, a certain way of life. As more men under-
stand this, the church will change in some form
or other, perhaps even away from Lutheranism,
because life is continuously changing. This ap-
plies not only to the Icelandic church, but to all
churches.
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