Little Trust In The National Church Among Icelanders

Accroding to Gallup’s newly released poll, Icelanders don’t seem to have trust in the national church and its bishop, Agnes M. Sigurðardóttir, reports Vísir. The suffragan bishop of Hólar thinks that people’s ignorance of the church explains the lack of trust in the institution.

Win a box of Icelandic Christmas goodies—and a branch of a Christmas tree to get the scent of Icelandic christmas—by signing up for our newsletter here before 15:00 Icelandic time on Friday 12th November!

Gallup’s data shows that only a third of the respondents have a lot of trust in the national church, and only 15 percent are satisfied with the bishop, Agnes M. Sigurðardóttir, while 27 percent said they were dissatisfied with her work. A third of the respondents stated to have little trust in the national church.

According to Sólveig Lára Guðmundsdóttir, the suffragan bishop of Hólar, the bad outcome of the poll is explained by people’s ignorance over the church and its services. She says that no criticism is heard from those who are associated with the national church.

Sólveig Lára states that especially young people are unaware of the services of the church. She also thinks that the fact that a whole generation has neither received Christian education nor studied the Bible might be a reason for the increased anxiety among young people. “We have to look at it all in context,” she says.