Neither the Methodist Church, the Free Evangelical Lutheran Church in Norway nor the Baptist Church has been invited to King Harald V’s funeral. The Royal Palace forgot, or passed over, Bishop Emeritus Ole Christian Kvarme, but he has now been invited. Imam Faruk Terzic of the Muslim Dialogue Network and Zahoor Ahmad Ch., national leader of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at Norway, are among representatives of non-Christian faith communities invited to the King’s funeral at Oslo Cathedral on 9 September.
Several Christian faith communities will be present at the King’s funeral at Oslo Cathedral on Wednesday, but not all Christian denominations in Norway are represented.
Methodist Church and Baptist Church not invited
The Methodist Church is among the Christian denominations that are not represented.
– I will be quite honest and say that I had hoped for an invitation, so that we could be represented at the King’s funeral. At the same time, I fully understand that not everyone who wishes to attend can do so, given the number of people for whom there is room, Bishop Knut Refsdal of the Methodist Church tells Vårt Land.
Neither the Free Evangelical Lutheran Church in Norway nor the Baptist Church has been invited to the funeral. Sten Sørensen, executive chairman of the Baptist Union of Norway, regards it as natural and unproblematic that a selection has been made, and points out that the Christian Council of Norway sought broad representation when it distributed the invitations. He also considers those who are present to represent all the members of the council. Tor Erling Fagermoen, synod leader of the Free Evangelical Lutheran Church, tells the newspaper that he agrees.
Those attending from the Christian Council of Norway are, according to Vårt Land:
Øystein Gjerme, general secretary of the Pentecostal Movement
Knud David Welander, commander in the Salvation Army
Abune Heryakos, bishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Norway
Siri Iversen, general secretary of the Mission Covenant Church
Oleg Nazarenko, priest in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine – Chaplaincy Mission to Norway
Henrik Erhard Hermansen, general secretary of the Christian Council of Norway
Both guru and imam invited
The newspaper has also compiled an overview of those attending from various faith and life-stance communities in Norway. That is, through their membership of the Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities (STL). Those attending from there are more numerous than the aforementioned Christians:
Zahoor Ahmad Ch., national leader of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at Norway.
Martine Lerstad, chair of the National Spiritual Assembly, the Bahá’í community.
Lama Changchub, spiritual leader of Karma Tashi Ling, the Buddhist Federation.
Fredrik Hansen, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Oslo, the Catholic Church.
Joav Melchior, Chief Rabbi of Norway, National Council of Jewish Communities in Norway.
Gurmail Singh Bains, Gurduara Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji (the Sikh community).
Renate Hetlevik Andersen, chair of the Holistic Association.
Christian Lomsdalen, chair of the Norwegian Humanist Association.
Patrick Waal, stake president in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Kristine Høiland, priest in the Christian Community, chair of STL.
Faruk Terzic, imam and chair of the Muslim Dialogue Network.
Vijay Kalsi, head of Sanatan Mandir Sabha.
Per Anders Sandgren, priest and chair of the Christian Council of Norway.
Olav Fykse Tveit, Presiding Bishop of the Bishops’ Conference of the Church of Norway, will officiate at the service.
Bishop Kvarme passed over
All the former bishops of Oslo, with one exception, had been invited to King Harald’s funeral. That is, Andreas Aarflot (bishop 1977–1998), Gunnar Stålsett (1998–2005) and Kari Veiteberg (2017–2024), while the Royal Palace had forgotten or passed over Ole Christian Kvarme, who was Bishop of Oslo from 2005 to 2017. This despite Kvarme having, among other things, baptised two of the King’s grandchildren – Prince Sverre Magnus in 2006 and Leah Isadora Behn in 2005. And despite Kvarme having officiated at the funeral service for Princess Ragnhild in the Palace Chapel in 2012, and at the celebratory service in Trinity Church on the occasion of King Harald’s 70th birthday in 2007. But the blunder now appears to have been rectified, and Kvarme has been invited, Vårt Land writes.
Procession from the Palace Hill
A large number of heads of state and royal guests are expected at the funeral, as well as an estimated 650 journalists. The police presence is massive, but the Royal Palace has announced that it will be possible to watch the procession carrying King Harald’s coffin from the Palace Hill, as well as to watch the entire ceremony on a large screen in the Palace Park. In the afternoon, the Royal Family will come out onto the Palace balcony to greet those assembled in the Palace Square. The procession carrying King Harald’s coffin to the Cathedral will leave the Palace at 12.00, and the Palace Square itself will not be accessible during the procession.
Royals from Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Spain, Japan and Jordan, among others, are expected at the funeral, according to TV 2. Also attending will be a number of presidents and heads of state from, among others, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Poland, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Thailand and Hungary, as well as President Zelenskyy of Ukraine.
The United States will apparently be represented by Allison Hooker, Under Secretary of State at the US Department of State, the Vatican by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, and Israel by chargé d’affaires Eytan Halon.
The funeral can also be followed on large screens in 140 Norwegian churches.
