There are currently 245 monks and nuns in Norway, and very few of them are of Norwegian decent, according to newspaper Dagens Næringsliv.
There are not many young Christians who choose to live in seclusion in Norway today. This country has 24 Catholic congregations in the community, with around 230 people who have given a vow of celibacy and obedience for life. Only 40 of them are from Norwegian backrounds, according to the newspaper.
The Norwegian church presently has two nuns at Engen monastery in Eastern Toten.
– It is generally a crisis in religious life, also on the continent. France has no one to lend us these days, says Sister Eva Dahl, who has been at Engen since 1987, and gave her vows in France.
There are four nuns in the evangelical maria sisters convent in Arneberg Hedmark, where only one is of Norwegian decent.
– In the orthodox part of the Church of Norway there is nine nuns and monks, five of them are migrants, says Father John. He is one of two monks in Holy Trifon Skita, a small monastery in Hurdal.
– There are many different reasons to choose the monastic life. I am a maximalist and thought it was the right thing to go all the way. For others it is life events or a visit to the monastery that has inspired them, he says.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
