Oslo - In an ecclesial context marked by growing doctrinal confusion, Bishop Fredrik Hansen of Oslo has chosen to intervene with a pastoral letter devoted to the Sacrament of Penance. It is a clear, straightforward text, one that introduces nothing new but places back at the centre something that risks being forgotten in Christian life. The letter arises during Lent, but it is framed on a broader level. Hansen firmly invites the faithful to rediscover confession as an ordinary practice, recalling that it is one of the sacraments instituted by Christ and therefore a constitutive part of the life of the Church. The bishop insists on one point in particular: through confession we truly receive forgiveness for our sins and are restored to communion with God and with the Church.
The text also addresses the question of sin, avoiding reductive readings. Sin, the prelate recalls, is a concrete rupture of the fundamental relationships — with God, with the ecclesial community, and with other human beings — rather than a mere individual weakness. Within this framework, confession appears as the place where that fracture is healed. Alongside the theological dimension, Hansen also offers practical guidance: he encourages the faithful to go to confession regularly, at least three times a year, and reminds them that anyone conscious of having committed a grave sin must refrain from approaching the Eucharist. At the same time, he acknowledges the widespread difficulties — fear, embarrassment, distance — and asks priests to make the sacrament more accessible.
The value of the letter lies not so much in its individual points as in the decision to address matters that today can no longer be taken for granted. Even within Christian communities, one can see a form of illiteracy in the faith: many no longer know what the Church teaches, nor the practices that shape her concrete life. In this sense, the call to confession takes on a wider significance: it is an invitation to rebuild the foundations. This emerges with particular clarity in a context such as Norway, but it is being felt with growing urgency even in countries with a Catholic tradition. It is in this direction that Leo XIV’s repeated appeals to begin again from an essential evangelisation are situated.
The Diocese of Oslo
The Diocese of Oslo, immediately subject to the Holy See, counts around 145,000 Catholics among a population of more than four million, amounting to roughly 3.5 per cent of the total population. It is therefore a minority community, situated within a strongly secularised society historically marked by the Reformation. Bishop Fredrik Hansen, born in 1979 and Bishop of Oslo since 2025, comes from a significant personal journey: he was raised in a Lutheran environment, converted to Catholicism, and then undertook a solid theological and canonical formation, eventually serving in the diplomacy of the Holy See.
This pastoral letter is, in every respect, a concrete act of governance. It is an attempt to accompany the faithful along a precise path, taking them by the hand and leading them back to what is essential. It is a dynamic that concerns Norway, but one that is progressively becoming necessary everywhere. A text that may seem obvious, and yet is anything but obvious.
L.V.
Silere non possum