Diocese of Reykjavík


The Diocese of Reykjavík is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church which covers the whole of the country of Iceland, and numbered 14,723 Catholics as of 2022. It is directly subject to the Holy See.

History

The Apostolic Prefecture of Iceland was created in 1923 and this was elevated to an Apostolic Administration in 1929, which in turn was elevated to the status of a diocese in 1968. In 2015 the then bishop, Pierre Bürcher retired and Father Dávid Bartimej Tencer, OFM Cap., was appointed to succeed him as the fifth bishop of the diocese. The bishop of Reykjavík participates in the Scandinavian Bishops Conference. The vicar general is Fr. Patrick Breen, rector of Landakot Cathedral, Christ the King Parish.
The Diocese of Reykjavík is a modern creation. The medieval church was represented by the sees of Skálholt and Hólar, but these became Lutheran during the Reformation. Iceland remained without Roman Catholic prelates until the Apostolic Prefecture was established at Reykjavík in 1923.

Episcopal ordinaries

Apostolic Prefecture of Iceland

  1. Martin Meulenberg, SMM
  2. Jóhannes Gunnarsson, SMM

    Diocese of Reykjavík

  3. Hendrik Hubert Frehen, SMM
  4. Alfred James Jolson, SJ
  5. Joannes Gijsen
  6. Pierre Bürcher
  7. Dávid Bartimej Tencer, OFM Cap.