Father Tomaž Majcen, a Conventual Franciscan, is the only Catholic parish priest in Greenland, working alongside two fellow Franciscan friars.
OSV News asked the Slovenian-born Father Majcen—who serves at Christ the King Church in the capital city of Nuuk—to share his experiences of ministering to the 300-500 Catholics in Greenland.
Father Majcen said most Catholics in Greenland come from the Philippines, Europe and Latin American countries, with some Danes and a “very small number” of Indigenous Inuit as well.
He described Greenland as a “place of grace and peace” even amid “isolation, harsh weather, and the challenge of serving to a tiny, widely dispersed congregation.”
Parish life is warm and vibrant, evoking the early Christian communities, he said. Asked if proposed plans by the current US administration to take over Greenland would affect his ministry, Father Majcen said he feared the loss of his “dream job” if the nation’s Catholic pastoral care were entrusted to an American diocese.
Still, he said, “I will let God be the center of everything. We pray as best we can for peace on earth and let God do the rest. I am more concerned about accompanying the small Catholic flocks of the island.”