Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, former general secretary of the World Council of Churches, was installed as the presiding bishop of the Church of Norway’s bishops’ conference on Sunday.
The service, held at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway, was conducted in accordance with social distancing restrictions and live-streamed internationally. Tveit, who was also consecrated as Bishop of Nidaros, succeeds Helga Haugland Byfuglien, the first woman to hold the post.
Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, fourth from left, at the service. PICTURE: Magne Vik Bjørkøy/Church of Norway
Tveit preached on John 15:19 in which Jesus describes Himself as the “true vine”.
“This is the church’s task in this world,” he said, “to preach and demonstrate God’s love, so that we can get the strength and will and ability to love others. It can and should demand something from us, for it concerns the most important thing of all. We can do this because we have been inserted into a relation with Christ.”
Dr Agnes Abuom, the WCC moderator, and WCC acting general secretary Rev Prof Dr Ioan Sauca said they earnestly prayed that under Tveit’s leadership, the Church of Norway will “seize this time to strengthen faith, encourage participation, cultivate community, and foster dedication to the care of the people of Norway and the service of the whole human family”.
“May the Church of Norway be and become, as you have phrased it, ‘a fellowship of hope,’ a haven always safe yet never comfortable, a herald and true beacon of hope for all humanity.”
Tveit, who served as WCC general secretary from 2010 to March this year, was recently awarded South Korea’s Dongbaek Medal of the Order of Civil Merit for his work over 10 years toward peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula.
