Karl Halfdan Schilling, CRSP (9 June 18352 January 1907) was a Norwegian

Barnabite The Barnabites (), officially named as the Clerics Regular of Saint Paul (), are a religious order of clerics regular founded in 1530 in the Catholic Church. They are associated with the Angelic Sisters of Saint Paul and the members of the Bar ...

cleric who is venerated in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Biography

Schilling was born in

Christiania, Norway Oslo ( or ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of towns and cities in Norway, most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a Counties of Norway, county and a Municipalities of Norway, municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a populat ...

. He was an atheist (nominally

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

) convert to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, which he first came into contact with when he was nineteen years old and studying art in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. He was received into the Catholic Church on 11 November 1854. Gradually, as he spent more and more of his time in prayer and charity work, he gave up his painting. He was ordained a priest at

Bourges Bourges ( ; ; ''Borges'' in Berrichon) is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre (Cher), Yèvre. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Cher (department), Cher, and also was the capital city of the former provin ...

, France, on 18 December 1875.Kevin Connolly
"Sigrid Undset and the Modern Apostolate"
/ref> Schilling became a spiritual director in the

Order (Clerics Regular of St Paul). He worked mainly in France, Italy and Belgium. His last years were spent in

Mouscron Mouscron (; Dutch language, Dutch and , ; Picard language, Picard and Walloon language, Walloon: ''Moucron'') is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city of Wallonia located in the Belgium, Belgian Hainaut Provinc ...

, Belgium, where his evident holiness led people to call him "the tall saint" (because of his height) or "the saint of Mouscron".

Veneration

Shortly after Schilling's death people began to flock to his grave, and on 24 March 1936 his body was moved to the Barnabite Church, where it was placed in a side chapel. His grave is still frequently visited by pilgrims. He is the only post-

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

Norwegian cleric to be officially considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church. His spiritual writings were approved by theologians on 19 May 1939, and his cause was officially opened on 22 November 1946, granting him the title of

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

. He has since been declared

Venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...

Books

* Undset, Sigrid, ''A Priest From Norway - The Venerable Karl Schilling'', translated by the Barnabite Fathers.

References

External links

Schilling biodata

(archived) 1835 births 1907 deaths 20th-century Belgian Roman Catholic priests Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism Members of the Barnabite Order Norwegian emigrants to France Place of birth missing Place of death missing 19th-century French Roman Catholic priests 19th-century venerated Christians {{RC-clergy-stub