The search for Solveig Fiske’s replacement as bishop in the diocese of Hamar is over.
Fiske turned 70 this fall and it’s time to pass the torch. There has been a lot of excitement about who will take control.
Now the ecclesiastical council of Hamar has made the final decision.
Ole Kristian Bonden is the new bishop.
– It is quite overwhelming and a great seriousness in becoming a bishop. But I look forward to the important service with joy and anticipation, he says.
Bonden will be introduced as the new bishop on Friday morning in Hamar Cathedral. This meeting is open to everyone.
TOP THREE: Ole Kristian Bonden, Tor Even Fougner and Hege Fagermoen were the last three candidates looking for the new bishop.
Photo: Diocese of Hamar
He will work for an inclusive church
Church council leader Gunleiksrud Raaum tells NRK he cannot disclose what the council pointed out in the election.
– But it was a clear signal to appoint Bonden as the new bishop, he says.
Ole Kristian Bonden is the parish priest of Sør-Østerdal and has been linked to Elverum throughout his priestly life.
Among other things, he was a board member of the Open Folk Church and the Support Center for Incest and Sexual Abuse.
Bonden says that as a bishop he wants to work for a Church that is generous and inclusive, and that is present in people’s lives.
– I want to continue the diocese of Hamar as a diocese of the popular church in a new era.
Tradition of inclusion
Since the 1950s, the diocese of Hamar has been known for being very liberal. It was here that Norway’s first female priest was ordained.
Rosemarie Köhn, who was bishop in Hamar from 1993 to 2006, was Norway’s first female bishop. You also fought a major battle for the place of homosexuals in the church.
Solveig Fiske is also described as a bishop with clear positions, while at the same time being generous and inclusive.
– What will it be like to take his place?
– It will be both easy and difficult. She has been a great role model for me from whom I have learned a lot.
A long process
There was a lot of tension over who would take over as bishop after Solveig Fiske.
In March it was open to anyone who wanted to be able to make proposals for candidates. After one month, 222 proposals had been submitted for a total of 92 candidates.
Then the demanding work began. The list of 92 candidates was to be reduced to five names. These five were presented in Hamardomen on 13 September.
And again the list had to be narrowed down: five had to become three.
The three were Ole Kristian Bonden, Hege Elisabeth Fagermoen and Tor Even Fougner.
– It was a difficult choice. When you have three good and solid candidates, it must be difficult, says church council leader Kristin Gunleiksrud Raaum.
The council of the diocese of Hamar had Bonden number one on the list before the church council had to make the decision.
There were twelve church council members who voted for him.
The farmer says he can’t wait to travel and meet people in the local communities of the diocese.
