Church of Norway apologizes for previous pro-life stance

March 4, 2019 (Live Action News) — In Norway, the largest Christian denomination is the Church of Norway, with an estimated 70% of Norwegians registered as members. Originally, the church was the official religion of Norway, with mandatory membership, but today, the church and the state have become separated. The church has likewise historically been pro-life, while Norway allows for legal abortion. However, the bishops of the Church of Norway recently released a statement actually apologizing for the church's pro-life stance and stunningly (and incorrectly) claiming that abortion "promotes women's health, safety and security."

"When the law of self-determined abortion was dealt with and adopted in the 1970s, the church was a clear opponent of the changes that were introduced," the statement began. "Priests and others were strong and clear in their criticism of the law for the purpose of protecting the unborn life. Today, we realize that the church's argumentation did not allow for a good dialogue. It's time to create a new conversation climate. We want to contribute to that."

The new conversation, evidently, means acknowledging that abortion needs to be legal, despite also arguing that preborn babies are, indeed, human beings deserving of protection. The statement read, stunningly:

A society with legal access to abortion is a better society than a society without such access. It prevents illegal abortions and promotes women's health, safety and security. It is not least evident in a global perspective. Internationally, we see that churches are still contributing to the burden of many pregnant women in vulnerable positions.

In Norway, abortion is legal through 12 weeks, and can be approved through 18 weeks if a woman files an application (most of which are approved). More bizarrely, the church still apologizes for not being committed enough to "women's liberation and rights."

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Norway: Right wing extremism emerges as possible terror motive

LONDON — A report that Norway's bomb and gun rampage may be the work of a far-right militant confronts Europe with the possibility that a new paramilitary threat is emerging, a decade after al-Qaida's Sept. 11 attacks.

One analyst called the attacks possibly Europe's "Oklahoma City" moment, a reference to American right-wing militant Timothy McVeigh who detonated a truck bomb at a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people.

Police forces in many western European countries worry about rising far-right sentiment, fueled by a toxic mix of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant bigotry and increasing economic hardship.

But violence, while sometimes fatal, has rarely escalated beyond group thuggery and the use of knives.

That may have changed in Oslo and on the holiday island of Utoya on Friday. Seven people were killed in a bombing in the capital — Western Europe's worst since the 2005 London al-Qaida-linked suicide attacks that killed 52 people — and at least 80 in a shooting rampage by a lake.

Independent Norwegian television TV2 reported on Saturday that the Norwegian man detained after the attacks had links to right-wing extremism .

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Breaking News: Norwegian police now report at least 80 dead in youth camp massacre

OSLO, Norway — At least 80 people were killed in a shooting attack on a youth camp in Norway, police said early Saturday, a devastating elevation of the death toll in twin attacks that included a bomb attack in Oslo.

National police Chief Oystein Maeland said the attack had reached "catastrophic dimensions."

Police arrested a 32-year-old Norwegian man at the youth camp on the island and linked him to both assaults but said they did not know the motive.

Norwegian media identified him as Anders Behring Breivik and said authorities searched his home.

At least seven people were killed Friday when the bomb exploded in the Norwegian capital in mid-afternoon, blowing out the windows of the prime minister's building and damaging the finance and oil ministry building. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was not in the building at the time. The blast scattered glass, shattered masonry and twisted steel across the streets.

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Norway: dozens killed in terror attacks

Gunman massacres teenagers at summer camp after explosion rocks centre of Oslo.

At least 30 people were feared dead in Norway last night after a gunman mowed down students at a summer camp hours after a bomb had devastated the centre of Oslo.

More than 20 youths attending a political gathering were reported to have been shot dead when a terrorist disguised as a policeman opened fire on a holiday island on a lake near the capital.

Seven people had earlier been killed in central Oslo when a car bomb went off outside the country’s main government building. Members of the country’s ruling Labour Party were the targets in both cases. Police had confirmed a total of 17 deaths last night.

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China threatens Norway over peace prize

Awarding the Nobel peace prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo would contradict its founding principles, China's foreign ministry said today.

Its comments came after the director of Norway's Nobel Institute, Geir Lundestad, said a senior Chinese official had warned him that giving the author the award would affect relations between the two countries.

"This person was sentenced to jail because he violated Chinese law," the foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news briefing in Beijing.

"His actions are diametrically opposed to the aims of the Nobel prize. Mr Nobel's behest was that the Nobel peace prize be awarded to somebody who promoted peace between peoples, promoted international friendship and disarmament."

Earlier, Lundestad said China's deputy foreign minister, Fu Ying, delivered the warning in a meeting at the Chinese embassy during her visit to Oslo this summer.

"[Such a decision] would pull the wrong strings in relations between Norway and China, it would be seen as an unfriendly act," Lundestad told Norwegian news agency NTB.

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