Russian Orthodox Church opened the doors in Norwegian Kirkenes

The Orthodox congregation in Kirkenes brings on the inheritage of Sankt Trifon, the courageous monk who built several church buildings in the area, then a no-man’s land, in the 16th century. To his memory, the congregation has also adopted the name of Holy Trifon.

–We hope the new church will be a meeting and assembly point for Russians living and working on the Norwegian side of the border, congregation leader Yelena Huseby says. At present, Russians total about six percent of the local population. In addition, about thousand Russian sailors are at any time based in the Kirkenes port.

The congregation is presently working actively with the equipping of the church. Finances are sparse, and congregation leader Huseby admits that contributions from private individuals and companies will be vital. Currently, the building does not have an iconostas, nor all necessary service equipment.  Despite that, several services have already been held in the building, and two people have been baptised.

With its view towards the Barents Sea and the Russian border, the new church building, formerly belonging to a municipal social welfare institution, also looks towards some of the contemporary major challenges in the Norwegian-Russian High North – the hunt for oil and gas resources. Several of the world’s biggest offshore oil and gas fields are located just off the coast from Kirkenes and Murmansk, and also the churches in the area are unlikely to remain unaffected by the upcoming developments.

The church in Kirkenes does not yet have its own priest. The congregation hopes, though, that the Patriarchate administration in Moscow soon will send a priest to Kirkenes for permanent service. The Patriarchate has earlier indicated that it might be interested in such a solution. Until then, the congregation will have to do with services held about once every three months by visiting priests from Murmansk.

The congregation in Kirkenes is unique in several regards. Unlike other Russian Orthodox congregations outside Russia, the congregation is not subjected to the Patriarchate’s Department of Foreign Relations, but is instead formally subordinated directly the Murmansk diocese.

It is the municipality of Sør-Varanger which has offered the building to the Orthodox congregation. The municipality has long worked actively to facilitate the development of Russian Orthodoxy in the Norwegian-Russian borderlands. Some years ago, the municipality even planned to construct a major new Orthodox church building, which was to function also as welfare centre for visiting Russian sailors. The church project attracted interest far beyond Kirkenes. During his visit to Oslo in 2002, Russian President Putin is even said to have mentioned the church project in meetings with Norwegian government officials.

The former church project failed to implement. Now, the local Orthodox congregation is itself in charge.

BarentsObserver.com, 12 March 2007