Hundreds of Norwegians Leave Church After It Demands to Stop Oil Exploration

The Church of Norway's call to put an end to oil and gas exploration has sparked a backlash from politicians and ordinary worshippers alike, who in response asked the church to stop "acting like a political party" and left it in droves.

Following a call by the Church of Norway to stop further oil and gas exploration activity on the Norwegian shelf, voiced during a national meeting with 116 representatives from eleven dioceses in Trondheim, more than 1,700 Norwegians have left the organisation, the newspaper Vårt Land has reported.

The backlash from worshippers was accompanied by criticism from politicians.

Among others, national-conservative Progress Party leader Sylvi Listhaug asked the Church of Norway to stop behaving like a political party and ventured that their offensive against the oil industry is a lost cause.

"As we know, closing down the Norwegian oil industry could lead to increased emissions globally, take away jobs, and make Norway a poorer country. There will not be much left for grants to the church or aid if we remove the oil revenues. They are cutting off the branch they are sitting on", Listhaug told the newspaper Klassekampen.

Conservative MP Sveinung Stensland stressed that there are no grounds in the Bible for such a decision and suggested that the chuch is alienating people with such behaviour.

"When it wants to be a political workshop, to be a political party, the Church of Norway makes itself less interesting for us who are politically engaged. You don't feel at home then", Stensland told Vårt Land.

The Church of Norway said that it was prepared for a negative reaction, yet clarified that it holds no grudge against those working in the oil and gas industry.

"It is natural that the decision that was made sparks some reactions of this type. At the same time, it is important for us to be clear that the church doesn't see those who work in the petroleum sector in Norway as a problem. They make a very big effort for value creation for Norwegian society", Olav Fykse Tveit, the Preses of the Church of Norway, explained.

Norway is one of the world's leaders in exports of energy resources, covering about 2 percent of global oil demand and 3 percent of natural gas demand. These oil and gas revenues have been the foundation for the so-called Oil Fund, the world's largest sovereign wealth fund. Despite the obvious success, in recent years, many left-wing parties have advocated a complete halt to the country's oil exploration for environmental reasons.

The Church of Norway is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestantism and by far the largest Christian church in the country, embracing just under 70 percent of the population. Until the mid-19th century, it had a near-total monopoly on religion in Norway as the "state church".

Yet, in recent decades, the church has been losing worshippers at an alarming rate, in lockstep with its Scandinavian cousins. This trend has been attributed to society becoming increasingly secular and more multicultural, as well as the church's liberal stance on social issues, including immigration, LGBTQ, and environmental rights shooing away more traditional worshippers.

For instance, the Church of Norway supported climate strikes by schoolchildren who demanded more forceful environmental action, and rallied in support of immigration, which many found unbecoming.