The Trump Administration‘s plans to acquire Greenland for the United States – either through purchase from Denmark or by military means– are being met with concern and “a quiet strength” by residents, says the Arctic island’s only Catholic parish priest. Source: OSV News.
“People talk about it in shops, at work, and even after Mass,” Fr Tomaž Majcen, a Conventual Franciscan and pastor of Christ the King Church in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, said.
The Slovenian-born Fr Majcen and two other Franciscan friars make up the Conventual Franciscan Mission in Denmark, part of the order’s Province of St Jerome in Croatia.
In 2023, the three Franciscans assumed pastoral care in Greenland – home to about 500 Catholics – at the request of Bishop Czeslaw Kozon of Copenhagen, Denmark, where the mission also serves two parishes.
“Most Greenlanders feel strongly about who they are and about their right to decide their own future,” Fr Majcen said.
“The fact that such a large majority does not want to become part of the United States says a lot.”
President Donald Trump’s long-signalled interest in acquiring Greenland as a “national security priority” was formally confirmed by the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a January 6 statement.
Fears of the US’s willingness to move on Greenland – already home to the US Pituffik Space Base for some 70 years under an agreement with Denmark, a NATO ally – have increased in Europe following the January 3 US unilateral military intervention in Venezuela.
Fr Majcen said the unfolding situation regarding Greenland highlights the urgent pastoral mission of the Church. He said people in Greenland have a “quiet strength.”
“People are worried, but they are also very clear: this is our land, our culture, our home,” he said.
“Above all, we pray – for wisdom for leaders, for peace between nations, and for the strength of our community. In tense times like these, the Church’s role as a home for everyone becomes even more important.”
FULL STORY
Church must stand for peace, says Greenland priest as US eyes takeover (By Gina Christian, OSV News)
