1 The Roman Catholic Church of Norway and migration challenges Olav Hovdeliena* aFaculty of Education and International Studies, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway Oslo Metropolitan University, LUI, PO box 4, St. Olavs plass, N-0130 Oslo, Norway *
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[email protected] Olav Hovdelien, has a Ph.D in Religion, Ethics and Society (Sociology of Religion) from University of Agder, Norway (2011), with a doctoral thesis on religious education in Norway. He is currently Professor at Oslo Metropolitan University, Faculty of Education and International Studies, Department of Early Childhood Education, where he teaches in the field of Religious Studies and Ethics. His main research fields are Sociology of Religion and Religious Education and he is currently doing research on Christian migrants to Norway, megachurches in the Nordic countries, and minority religions in Norwegian kindergartens. Recent publications includes “Education and common values in a multicultural society – The Norwegian case”, International Journal of intercultural studies (2015), “… in favour of secularism, correctly understood”, Australian eJournal of Theology (2014), and “The Limitations of Multiculturalism in Norwegian Early Childhood Education”, Journal of Inclusive Education (2014). Member of International Society for the Sociology of Religion (SISR – ISSR). This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church on 11/03/2019, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1474225X.2019.1580953 2 The Roman Catholic Church of Norway and migration challenges Abstract: Ever since its re-establishment in Norway in 1843, the Roman Catholic Church has grown steadily. The church has now a total membership of approximately 150,000 (1 January 2017).