NORWAY
The Local
AFP
The Norwegian Catholic Church was fined on million kroner (more than €110,000) on Monday for exaggerating the number of members it has to receive more state aid.
Oslo prosecutors slapped the fine on the Diocese of Oslo, responsible for keeping national records of Catholics living in the Scandinavian country, according to the ruling seen by AFP.
The diocese is accused of having gone through telephone directories looking for immigrants with names suggesting that they were from Catholic countries and adding them to the list of members of the church between 2011 and 2014, sometimes without their knowledge.
In Norway, a predominantly Protestant country, the state finances the various religious minorities in proportion to the number of church members.
By exaggerating the list of its members, the diocese was able to obtain undue government subsidies. Its chief administrative officer, Thuan cong Pham, has been charged with aggravated fraud, the prosecution said.
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