Norway currently has approximately five million inhabitants who profess different confessions, mainly Lutheran. In recent years, the number of Catholics in this country has grown considerably due to immigration from countries with a Catholic tradition and the revitalization of the local church itself. This new reality, added to the deterioration of some temples, has led to the construction of several churches.
One of them is the new Trondheim Cathedralwhich was consecrated on November 19. In the new temple can be seen the different works of ornamentation commissioned to Granda, designed and made all of them in the workshops of Alcalá de Henares.
The decorative project of the cathedral could not miss the image of St. Olav, patron saint of Norway, located in one of the side chapels. Other elements made in Granda for the Nordic temple are: the tabernacle, an image of Christ and a carving of the Virgin and Child, as well as the Eucharistic lamp, the Stations of the Cross and a reliquary urn.
The church is presided over from the central nave by a image of Christ crucified. It is a large polychrome wood carving -three meters high- that appears as the only element in the apse.
In a small side chapel is the Sagrario, which has been realized in green marble with white vein, whose dome and door are bathed in gold. On its front is represented the scene of the Assumption of the Virgin. Accompanying the tabernacle hangs a Eucharistic lamp, also made in the Granda art workshops. The Cardinal of Westminster, who presided over the consecration ceremony of the cathedral, stressed in his homily the importance of this lamp being lit, since its light is a sign for the faithful of the real presence of Jesus Christ in the tabernacle.
Above the tabernacle rests on a marble bracket an enameled sculpture of the Madonna and Childcarved in linden wood, polychrome.
For another chapel of the temple, dedicated to St. OlavThe sculptors of Granda have made a carving of the saint, in a seated position, with the attributes of his royal status: the crown on his head, and the scepter and the orb in his hands.
In the central nave, the fourteen Stations of the Cross, made of plated copper, hang along the walls.
Lastly, the interior of the altar houses a reliquary holder made of gold and silver, containing the relics of Saint Olav and five other saints.
After months of hard work, Trondheim now has a new space to accommodate the Catholics of the diocese.
