Ladies and gentlemen,

You come from Denmark and Finland, from England and Germany, from Iceland, Ireland and Sweden. I want to welcome you all to Norway and Oslo! As Minister of Culture and Church Affairs I am happy to greet the members of this Nordic Cathedral Conference.

What makes you gather is the unique buildings you are called to serve in - buildings highly admired for their beauty, importance, mission and history.

As a politician I am painfully aware of the economical and technical problems I suppose you all face almost daily. And as a churchgoer I am aware of the glorious ecumenical and wordless language of the cathedral.

Cathedrals reflect the search for God in this world, and God’s love of this world. The cathedral reaches out to all kinds of people through different sort of senses.

In a novel entitled "The naked Madonna" – the author, Jan Wiese, tells the story of a marvellous new cathedral. It is built to show the technical capacity of today, but it turns into a ruin during the service. The message is simple: All life falls apart if love and faith is not the core of its existence.

I believe it is no coincidence that the author chooses a new and ruined cathedral as opening metaphor. And I am sure so do you. You know that a cathedral, is build to proclaim faith and love. You know that man’s search for God goes through beauty, meaning and roots. – The beauty, power and glory of the church alone, can be a substitution for love and faith.

A cathedral is supposed to meet many different needs. It is needed for congregational life, for important events in the community, and for inspiration to surrounding churches. The cathedral is also hosting cultural events of various kinds.

To balance the needs of congregational life with the claims from other functions of the cathedral is perhaps your daily challenge. I am sure that you have reflections and experiences to share to help each other in this demanding task. In the Cathedral of Oslo the congregation co-operates with the different organisations, social and cultural, to meet some of these challenges.

I suppose congregations of cathedrals in many cities do the same. And I am happy to have witnessed how well this co-operation works. The cathedral has opened its doors to others than the well-established churchgoers.

All sorts of people are drawn to cathedrals. Your responsibility is to make sure that the cathedral is there for all of us. Your work is to let the message of the Lord be seen and heard by the different people that visits your cathedral. And you know, as the metaphor of the ruined cathedral tells, that without love and care and faith this is empty work.

For you to gather and together meet the challenges of this task should be useful. I am certain that this conference and the networks you develop will be useful in your work.

I wish you interesting and fruitful days during the conference.

My speech was introduced by music from a Norwegian lure, played by Mr Odd Syvarnes Lund. He will now play you a tune on a Norwegian ram’s horn.