Unmarried cohabitant can also become priest in Church of Norway

In 1995, the Bishop's Conference decided that employees from the Church cannot "establish a cohabitation outside of an arranged marriage", Dagen writes. However, a report from Vart Land showed that the bishop of Oslo, Kari Veiteberg has ordained cohabiting priests, cantors, catechists and deacons since 2017.

Recently, the newspaper conducted a survey that shows that all bishops from the Church of Norway are open to ordaining office bearers that live in a cohabitating relationship without being married. President Olav Fykse Tveit issued a statement on the matter that reads that the bishops have discussed the matter several times. "They agree to hold marriage as the best arrangement for cohabitation, but also agree that each bishop must make an individual assessment of each candidate seeking marriage." According to Fykse Tveit, each bishop must make his or her own consideration in this matter. He says that his statement is just a bit different and represents a more open approach than the decision from the Bishop's Conference in 1995.

Bishop Kari Mangrud Alvsvåg from Borg Diocese says she will not exclude cohabiting partners from ordination. "I will not categorically say no to ordaining someone, but I will still follow the Bishops' Conference's stance on promoting marriage", she says to Vart Land.

Disappointing

In an opinion article, the Dagen chief editors write to be disappointed in the course of the Church of Norway. "What signal does it send when a priest is to marry other people, while at the same time, the person in question openly lives in contradiction to the understanding of marriage that underlies the wedding?" the opinion article reads. Even though the editors-in-chief acknowledge that the relationship of cohabiting people can be good without marriage, they also argue that bishops cannot set aside the Biblical teaching on marriage. "It is so deeply disappointing."