Knut Ansgar Nelson (1 October 1906 – 31 March 1990) was a Danish-born convert to

Roman 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 ...

who served as bishop of Stockholm from 1957 to 1962.

Life

Nelson was born in 1906 in

Frederiksværk Frederiksværk is a town with a population of 12,837 (1 January 2025) in Halsnæs Municipality on Zealand in Region Hovedstaden in Denmark. History A French cannon founder, Peyrembert, received permission to build a cannon factory here. Having ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, but travelled to the

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in 1925. He became a Catholic while working in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem was one ...

and studying medieval art. In May 1931 he entered Portsmouth Priory,

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, making his solemn profession in 1935. He was ordained a priest on 22 May 1937. During his early years in the monastery he taught

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

in what was then still Portsmouth Priory School. After his retirement he provided philosophy seminars in the novitiate and for the more advanced students in the school.''Oblate Newsletter'', October 2005. On 11 August 1947 he was appointed

coadjutor The term "coadjutor" (literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadjutor bishop ...

Vicar Apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

of Sweden, as

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Bilta (Tunisia), and consecrated bishop by

Amleto Giovanni Cicognani Amleto Giovanni Cicognani (24 February 1883 – 17 December 1973) was an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Vatican Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969, and Dean of the College of Cardinals from 1972 until his death. Cicogn ...

Apostolic Delegate An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

to the United States, on 8 September the same year, at a ceremony in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, Providence, Rhode Island. In 1951 he visited Duane Garrison Hunt in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, and on that occasion was interviewed about the impact of Soviet policy on the state of Christianity in Scandinavia. When Stockholm became an independent diocese in 1953, Nelson became coadjutor bishop. He succeeded to the bishopric on 1 October 1957, resigning on 2 July 1962. After his retirement he served as a chaplain to nuns in Switzerland for five years before returning to Portsmouth Abbey. In retirement, he was titular bishop of Dura. Nelson died in Newport Hospital,

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

on 31 March 1990.

Commemoration

In 1996 a scholarship endowment at

Portsmouth Abbey School Portsmouth Abbey School is a coeducational Catholic, Benedictine boarding and day school for students in grades 9 to 12. Founded in 1926 by the English Benedictines, the school is located on a 525-acre campus in Portsmouth, along Rhode Island's N ...

was established as the "Bishop Ansgar Nelson O.S.B. Memorial Fund".Portsmouth Abbey School Annual Report, 2008, p. 23.
link to pdf file

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Knut Ansgar 1906 births 1990 deaths People from Frederiksværk Converts to Roman Catholicism Roman Catholic bishops of Stockholm 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Sweden Benedictine bishops Danish Benedictines Danish emigrants to the United States