A service of reflection, to pay respect to the victims of the bomb attack and mass shooting in Norway, is to be held at Cardiff’s Norwegian Church on Sunday at 3pm in the Grieg Room. Lord Mayor of Cardiff Cllr. Prof Delme Bowen, and the Lady Mayoress Ms Pamela Morgan will be in attendance.
The service, which will be in Norwegian, English and Welsh, will be led by the Cardiff Bay chaplain, the Reverend Gill Dallow.
After the horror of the atrocities emerged last weekend, Norway has entered a period of national mourning. The Norwegian Church has lowered its flag to half-mast and opened a book of condolences.
Hundreds of people have already visited the Church, a well known landmark on the Cardiff Bay waterfront, to leave flowers and messages of sympathy that will later be sent to their connections in Norway.
Councillor Delme Bowen, the Lord Mayor of Cardiff, and the Lady Mayoress Ms Pamela Morgan, who have already sent their condolences to the County Mayor of Hordaland, will also be in attendance at Sunday’s service.
Cardiff’s links with Norway developed after the growth in mining in the 19th Century and Norwegian seamen, exporting the coal from the Port of Cardiff, looked for a place to worship.
Cardiff became one of the first cities outside Norway to have such a place of worship, and during World War II when Norwegian seamen were unable to return to their homeland up to 70,000 Scandinavians were said to have worshipped there every year.
Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Cllr Prof, Delme Bowen: said: “Cardiff has a very strong link with Norway and it’s important that we remember those who died in the atrocities .
“The Norwegian Church has, for the past week been a place where people can pay their respects to our friends in Norway.
“The service is our way of marking those who lost their lives and showing our support to a country who has suffered greatly this last week.”
Further information can be found at www.norwegianchurchcardiff.com
