Olaf Offerdahl (12 December 1857,

Årdal Årdal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located at the end of the Årdalsfjorden in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sogn. The village of Årdalstangen is ...

Sogn Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway (''Vestlandet''). It is located in the county of Vestland, surrounding the Sognefjord, the largest/longest fjord in Norway. The district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestra ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

– 7 October 1930, Bussum,

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) was apostolic administrator for

from 1928 to March 1930, when he was promoted to apostolic vicar. In April 1930 he became the

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of Selia, which he remained until his death later the same year. He was the first ethnic Norwegian bishop to be appointed in Norway since the

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 ...

. Notable he translated the New Testament in to Norwegian.

Life and work

He was born on the croft Kleivi at Årdal,

. The family took the name of the farm the croft was a part of, Ofredal. Offerdahl studied to become a teacher in

Balestrand Balestrand is a former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It was located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center was the village of Balestrand. Other villages i ...

, and graduated in 1879. In 1880 he met C. Holfeldt-Houen and JD Stubbegan, both

catholic priests The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

while working at Catholic St. Paul's Primary School in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, and converted from the

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 ...

Norwegian Church Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *Norwegian language, including the two ...

to the

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. In autumn 1884, he began studying for the priesthood in

Turnhout Turnhout () is a Belgium, Belgian Municipalities in Belgium, municipality and city located in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. ...

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. He passed his student exam in 1886. From there he studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

at Urbana Collegio de Propaganda Fide in

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, a missionary college. 22 Nov 1891 he was ordained a priest by Cardinal

Lucido Maria Parocchi Lucido Maria Parocchi (13 August 1833 – 15 January 1903) was an Italian cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Secretary of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Ho ...

. The summer of 1892 he returned to

where he became the

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

. January 23, 1884 he was appointed acting priest of

until July 27, 1895 when become the parish priest. Transferred to St. Olav Church in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

he was a chaplain from 1897 to 1907, when he was promoted to parish priest. A position he held until 1923. For around the next year he served as parish priest in

Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

before moving to St. Hallvard's church in Oslo June 1, 1924.

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

granted him the title

monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

when he was appointed household prelate and

papal chamberlain A papal gentleman, formally a Gentleman of His Holiness, is a lay attendant of the pope and his papal household in Vatican City. Papal gentlemen serve in the Apostolic Palace near St. Peter's Basilica in ceremonial positions, such as escorting d ...

in 1925. Also in March 1925 he became the

provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...

for the

apostolic vicariate An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often ...

of Norway, in June he becam
pro-vicar
for Norway. He served as a parish priest and provost until he was required to step up as

apostolic administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of Norway in 1928. Bishop JO Smit, his superior, was called to Rome related to conflict in the church that year. After serving only a year and a half in that position he was promoted to apostolic vicar, leader of the apostolic vicariate of Norway, on March 13, 1930. April 3rd 1930 he was appointed

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 Selia, and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

on the 6th by Cardinal Wilhelm van Rossum. That fall, he became seriously ill during a trip to the Netherlands. On 7 October 1930, he died in

Bussum Bussum () is a commuter town and former municipality in the Gooi region in the south east of the province of North Holland in the Netherlands near Hilversum. Since 2016, Bussum has been part of the new municipality of Gooise Meren. Bussum had a ...

. He is buried at Our Savior's Cemetery in

Time as a provost

Offerdahl worked under Bishop JO Smit as a provost. The bishop's leader was poor, resulting in destructive conflict. Despite the turmoil Offerdahl was seen as trustworthy and doing his best. His reputation as a good leader undoubtedly led to his consideration for bishop.

Celebration of the 900th anniversary St. Olaf winning the Battle of Stiklestad

It is believed that celebrating the introduction of Christianity into Norway's 900th anniversary played a major role in Offerdahl's appointment as bishop. They need a well-liked leader who spoke Norwegian. Offerdalh made the controversial decision to not allow the Catholic Church of Norway to celebrate the introduction of Christianity to Norway with the Church of Norway, rather he insisted upon a separate celebrations for Catholics. It was his view that the introduction of Catholic Christianity was the purpose of the celebration and did not want to mingle it with the views of the Church of Norway. On the committee who helped prepare the Catholic celebrations were authors Lars Eskeland and Sigrid Undset, the latter of which compared Offerdahl to medieval episcopal figures.

Economic concerns as bishop

The Catholic Church in Norway was not in a good financial situation when Offerdahl became bishop. Hoping for financial help from dutch bishops and benefactors Offerdahl went to the Netherlands in September 1930. His requests for help were well received. While on this trip he died at the Franciscan Sisters' postulant house St. Olavshuis in Bussum, October 7, 1930.

Works

* Editor for St. Olaf 1897–1907 * Translated the New Testament to Norwegian 1902 * Wrote Catholic Practice 1903 * Wrote To St. Joseph * Translated David's Psalms

References

External links

Profile
Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
Mention
St. Ansgar's Bulletin No.30 Pg. 9 {{DEFAULTSORT:Offerdahl, Olaf Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Norway 1857 births 1930 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic titular bishops Norwegian Roman Catholic bishops 20th-century Norwegian clergy