NORWAY
The Freethinker (UK)
Last year it was reported in Newsweek that Bernt Ivar Eidsvig, the bishop of Oslo, above, had been charged with ‘gross economic fraud’. He and his diocese was accused of overstating ther membership numbers, thereby claiming state funding to which it was not entitled.
This week, according to the Independent, the case culminated with the imposition of a one million kroner (£95,000) fine on the Church.
The Church was accused of looking for immigrants with names that would suggest they were of Catholic origin and adding them to the list of members without their knowledge.
If the Church refuses to pay the fine it will face trial.
The Church responded in a statement:
We’ve never done anything illegal or received too much money. We have always recognised that we have made mistakes and had an unfortunate practise in parts of our registration. This was cleaned up a long time ago.
In Norway the state finances religious groups in accordance with the number of members.
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