Bringing Roman Catholicism to remote Protestnt northern Norway

 Challenges and blessings at the globe’s most northern parish.

A Polish priest shares the beauty of ministering in Norway, a country where Catholics are a small but diverse fraction of the population and the weather can be a trial. "For me, the synonym for prayer is presence." Published in Aleteia by Katarzyna Matusz-Braniecka - published on 12/27/25

Father Rafał Ochojski MSF, a Polish missionary of the Holy Family, has been working in Norway for six years. He’s currently the parish priest of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Hammerfest, the northernmost Catholic parish in the world.

Previously, as he emphasizes, he was a satisfied youth minister, and before that, an equally happy vicar of the Parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Złotów, Poland.

“You’re alone and far away, it’s dark and cold, there are few people… Why did you choose Norway?,” his friends ask him. He replies: “Twenty years ago, I came to Norway as a deacon. Fr. Wojciech (the parish priest at the time) and I traveled 125 miles to celebrate Holy Mass, which was attended by four people. And I asked, ‘Is that how it is?’ Yes, that's how it is, and ... that's what captivated me.”

Check out Father Rafal's 11 pictures slide show at this link here.

Finding God- Aleteia: Are there many Catholics in Norway❓

Fr. Rafał Ochojski: Pastoral ministry in northern Norway isn’t about statistics, but about individuals. We don't count the faithful in percentages here, because I can count them myself (laughter). Every new person is noticed. I experience the Gospel parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin very deeply.

Moreover, Norway is a Protestant country, and there’s a phenomenon here that is not so well known in Poland: namely, conversion from Protestantism to ✝️Catholicism. I had that kind of experience in my parish last June. It was very moving.

How can people seek God❓Fr. Ochojski: I often repeat in my sermons that God is always close to you, no matter how far you are from Him. How can people seek Him? There’s probably no simple answer to this question, as we’re all different. We have different life experiences, we find ourselves in different situations, and it’s in these situations that God comes to us.

You can seek Him in the sacraments, because He’s present there, and in various situations, because He works through them in different ways. It’s worth seeking God in everyday life.

I encourage you to ask the question in a short prayer in the morning: Lord Jesus, where are You hiding today❓ Where are you❓ In what situation? In what person❓In what event❓ Pray to have that detective-like instinct to analyze the day, asking, “Where is God today❓” And ask to see Him both in spectacular events and in small things.

The spiritual magnetism of nature: How does the spectacularly beautiful natural setting of Norway help with this❓ Father. Ochojski: I don’t think that God accidentally leaned on His divine keyboard and this beauty happened by accident (laughter). It’s not a coincidence! For me, it’s very coherent, this combination of spiritual, sacramental, human, and natural elements.

When it’s relatively warm and there’s no snow, it’s good. One day, it was a beautiful, cloudless morning. There’s a mountain behind the presbytery, so the sun wasn’t yet visible, but it was already pushing through. I was tired after a 500-mile journey, but I went to open thechurch and took my bike, my breviary, and rode off.

And that’s the spiritual magnetism of nature. For me, it’s an experience of God's grace. Why? I knew I wasn’t going to get anything else done; I was tired after the journey, but within a few seconds I was able to get on my bike and ride.

Snowy challenges: And in winter❓ Fr. Ochojski: Winter and the polar night are a test of faith. It's a difficult time. I remember waist-deep snowdrifts from my childhood, but that's nothing compared to the winters here. The climate of the polar night itself is demanding, including physically; you have to supplement your diet to keep your body going.

Our parish owns parking lots and garages, and we rent them out. So every morning in winter, I spend two hours clearing snow from the parking lot and garage. Sometimes I also do it in the evening, depending on how much it snows. The work is difficult, but I tell myself that I'm going to do physical training. Sometimes I've done 8.5 miles of snow removal alone. Snow removal here is different from what we know in Poland. It's not just shoveling snow; you have to load it up and take it away with a wheelbarrow because we're in the city center.

What else is challenging about this mission❓Fr. Ochojski: Celebrating Mass away from home is a challenge, because many times it's impossible to get there. There's a traffic app that checks if the roads are open, and sometimes they're closed and I have to cancel. In April, I was driving to a baptism. There was a snowstorm, and it was snowing everywhere. I was driving through the mountains, in open terrain that the plow hadn't had time to clear yet. There was half a meter of fresh snow on the road, and all I could see were poles sticking out of it. And now you have to remember to drive between them. Night, snow, poles sticking out of the ground, and on a long journey, you don't know if you're entering the road or leaving it. It's an exhausting experience.

Unity in diversity: What surprises you about Norway❓Fr. Ochojski: The diversity of the Church. I have nearly 50 nationalities in my parish, and at least a dozen of them attend Sunday Mass. Here I experience the catholicity of the Church when I meet people from such different cultures, with so many experiences and mentalities. And during Mass, we’re so united; looking at the altar, we see the same thing, we feel the same way, we have similar ideas and catechetical knowledge. And in all Catholic churches today we hear the same thing, the same prayers, the same words, which is very enriching.

What distinguishes the church in Norway❓Fr. Ochojski: There are few people here, so we all know each other by name. I know what’s going on with everyone. It's like a pastoral ministry of waving to everybody. I drink coffee and sit by the window, and when someone I know walks by, I knock on the window and wave to him. Often the passer-by is a vicar from a Protestant parish. His wife is Catholic, and they often attend Sunday Mass. These simple gestures bring people together in everyday life.Praying is more than petition

You say that you’re learning the prayer of being. 

Fr. Ochojski: For me, the synonym for prayer is presence. Praying in silence, contemplation, and listening. We know from the Gospel that when people came to Jesus, it was to listen to Him, and the consequence was healing. We often come with a specific set of wishes for prayer. Norwegians use the Norwegian word “pray” to ask for something. Since it’s the same word, it may give the impression that praying means asking for something. And as a little boy, I prayed in the same way. Today, I choose prayer of praise, presence, and adoration.

What does God talk about❓ Fr. Ochojski: Always about what’s important. He doesn’t deal with nonsense. Every day He talks about something different, and to each person in a different way. He says, “You’re important to me, because I wouldn’t have died on the cross for people who are unimportant.” The universal message of God to man is His love for him, which He reveals in many ways.

While still in Poland, during a retreat, I told people that the day you were conceived was the day God decided that the world could no longer exist without you. The original quote says “when you were born,” but I believe it was much earlier.

Gratitude for grace

What are you grateful for❓Fr. Ochojski: I have two pools of gratitude. One is general — for life, the priesthood, my vocation, and the people close to me. The other is the pool of everyday life, gratitude for having managed to do something.
Gratitude breeds generosity, as one of my confreres reminds me. And the more grateful I am, the more I’m permeated by God's presence.


There have been many situations where, from a human perspective, I knew that I couldn’t manage on my own. For me, the definition of God's grace is that every time I manage to do something that bears good fruit, and I do it contrary to my abilities, desires, and predispositions, it’s proof of God's grace at work.

And extraordinary things happen❓ ...

Fr. Ochojski: Once, after evening Mass, I had a thought: it would be nice to put a statue of the Mother of God in front of the church. And immediately after that, another thought: I don't even know how to go about it! It's true that I studied construction, but roads and bridges, not pedestals and statues. I thought, okay, but if it's God's inspiration, it will work out.

I talked to my Polish neighbors and told them about my idea, that it wouldn't be a heavy statue because it would be made of synthetic resin, and that it wouldn't be that expensive. And they said that they were going to Poland on vacation and could bring it back.

I talked to another family and shared that we were going to bring a statue of the Virgin Mary from Poland, and I was thinking about a pedestal, to which I heard that the father of that family would build it.

We put up the pedestal, placed the statue on it, and I thought that lighting would be useful, and immediately someone from the church came forward to do it. How can you not feel cared for here? How can you not feel His presence❓✝️