Christianization The first recorded Christian missionary to preach in Denmark was
Willibrord, who around 710 unsuccessfully attempted to convert King
Ongendus. In 831,
Pope Gregory IV appointed
Ansgar to oversee the mission in the Nordics. He was designated a
papal legate and the archbishop of the newly created
Archbishopric of Hamburg. Danish
vikings sacked
Hamburg in 845, forcing Ansgar to flee to
Bremen. The seat of the archbishopric moved with him and the Archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen was then responsible for the church's mission in the Nordic region for the next 150 years. Ansgar died in 865. Within his lifetime he managed to establish but two churches in Denmark: one in
Hedeby and the other in
Ribe. It is difficult to determine whether his efforts made a lasting impact on the Christianization of Denmark, given their strong and at times violent rejection by Medieval vikings. ,
Børglum,
Lund,
Odense,
Ribe,
Roskilde,
Schleswig, and
Viborg. Christianity began to spread in Denmark in the mid-10th century. Mission dioceses were established in Jutland around 948. Legend has it that in 960, a missionary named Poppa or Poppo converted
Harald Bluetooth after holding red-hot iron without being burned. A diocese was established in
Odense around 965. Around 1022,
Roskilde became the
episcopal seat of
Zealand and in 1060
Lund became the episcopal seat of
Skåneland.
Bishop Adalbert of Hamburg-Bremen divided the kingdom between eight
dioceses, which remained unchanged until the 19th century. The crown installed new bishops, titled as
superintendents, to replace the leadership of the former catholic dioceses, but on a local level church life typically remained the same and most parish priests maintained their positions. Catholicism was forbidden in Denmark and the presence of foreign Catholics in Denmark and Norway was
de facto criminalized in 1569. Anti-catholic legislation was introduced on several occasions, including in the
Danske Lov of 1683. In 1622,
Pope Gregory XV established the
Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. The body was given jurisdiction over former Catholic regions, including the Nordic states, with the intention of re-establishing Catholicism in the region. In 1667, an Apostolic Vicariate was established to specifically oversee this campaign in the Nordic region. on 2 December 1908. Denmark was elevated to an
apostolic vicariate in 1892. This meant that Denmark again had its own bishop, Johannes von Euch (1834–1922). During von Euch's tenure as bishop, the number of parishes increased from 8 to 28, while religious communities of
Redemptorists,
Montfortians,
Camillians, and
Jesuits, among others, were established. By the early 1930s the number of Catholics in Denmark had increased to about 25,000. Although Catholic immigrants contributed to this increase, the majority of this number was due to conversion. Between 200 and 300 Danes converted to Catholicism each year in Denmark around the turn of the 20th century. The majority of these converts were from the
working class. Because the majority of Catholic congregations in Denmark were composed of converts, mass was at times made more accessible to those familiar with Protestant services. For example, many Catholic churches allowed
hymns to be sung in Danish, rather than in Latin. Because of the strong association between
Grundtvig and Danish identity, Danish Catholicism is strongly influenced by Grundtvigianism, despite the later being a Protestant movement. On 22 January 2021, Cardinal
Jean-Claude Hollerich denounced a proposed Danish law that would require translation of all sermons into the
Danish language. Though Catholics believe that the proposed regulation is aimed primarily at
Muslims, the Danish bishops have said that its passage will chill
religious freedom for all, and place a burden on the church, which celebrates
Mass in at least 9 languages nationwide. ==Organization==