St Olav Catholic Cathedral (St Olav Domkirke)

Of about 36,000 Catholics living in Norway, 60 percent have been born abroad, so there is a clear need for celebrating Catholic Mass in a variety of languages. This was Norway's first Catholic congregation to be formed since the Lutheran Reformation, and was established in Oslo in 1843. Their church, built by architect H.E. Schirmer in a Neo-Gothic style, was inaugurated in 1856. On that occasion, Queen Josephine presented the congregation with the altarpiece, a copy of Raphael's Sistine Madonna executed by Countess Sophie Adlersparre. In 1953, this parish church became the main church of the Catholic Diocese of Oslo. The church boasts a tabernacle in Italian marble, donated by Pope Pius in 1857, a bishop's throne used by Pope John Paul II on his visit in 1989, and the only existing relic of King Olav, the patron saint of Norway. The church was restored in 1975-76 by architects Thomas Thiis-Evensen and Sigurd stberg; the new high altar and the pi! llars in the naves are made of Norwegian granite. The new organ has 20 stops and was produced by the J.H. Jrgensen Organ Factory in Oslo.