Jóhannes Gunnarsson

infobox bishopstyles
name=Jóhannes Gunnarsson
dipstyle=The Right Reverend
offstyle=Your Excellency
relstyle=Bishop
deathstyle=none |

Jóhannes Gunnarsson, SMM (August 3, 1897—June 17, 1972) was an Icelandic prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Apostolic Vicar of Iceland from 1942 until his resignation in 1967.

Biography

Jóhannes Gunnarsson was born in Reykjavík. His grandfather was a leader in the Althing, and his father (b. September 1853) converted to Catholicism while attending school in Denmark; he was Iceland's only native Catholic for twenty years. Gunnarsson did his early studies under the Icelandic Jesuits, then in Denmark, and later studied theology in Holland. He was ordained as a priest of the Missionaries of the Company of Mary on June 14, 1924, and, upon his return to Reykjavík, commenced his priestly ministry at the Cathedral.

On February 23, 1943, Gunnarsson was appointed Apostolic Vicar of Iceland and Titular Bishop of "Hólar" by Pope Pius XI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following July 7 at [http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ St. Patrick's Church] in Washington, D.C. Gunnarsson was enthroned as Apostolic Vicar after returning to Iceland, where he was the first native bishop in nearly four centuries; the last was Jón Arason, who was beheaded with his two sons by King Christian III in 1550. At the time of his consecration, there were only three parishes and four hundred Catholics in his country, which is predominantly of the Lutheran persuasion.

Bishop Gunnarsson attended the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965, and resigned his post in 1967, after twenty-five years of service. He later died at the age of 74.

External links

* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,777872,00.html Hyperborean Bishop - TIME Magazine]
* [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bgunna.html Catholic-Hierarchy]