Fra statskirkelig anstaltprest til spesialprest i livssynsåpent samfunn

Abstract

This chapter gives an overview of the development of chaplaincy in public institutions in (Denmark-)Norway from the reformation until the present. The presentation divides the development into four phases and differentiates between four different purposes in specialized pastoral care in public institutions. The four different purposes can be said to be emphasized in the four different phases. The presentation concentrates mainly on prison and healthcare chaplaincy, while student and military chaplaincy is only briefly touched upon. The first phase (1536–1850) was emphasizing the kings religious care for his subjects through the State Church clergy, also when in jail or hospital. The second phase (1850–1975) was a phase of professionalization and specialization. The specializing of prison chaplaincy was related to the development of correctional treatment of the prisoners in cell prisons. The specializing of healthcare chaplaincy was connected to the development in the institutions of somatic and psychiatric healthcare. The third phase was a phase of organizational change and expansion (1975–2000), and emphasized the citizens, prisoners and patients, right to religious practice, the state’s and the public institutions’ obligation to provide spiritual care, and consequently the need for more positions for prison and healthcare chaplains. In the most recent development of a pluralistic society open to a diversity of religious and life stance practices (the 2000s), the emphasis has been on existential care as part of a holistic care, alongside the care for the right to religious practice for prisoners, patients, and their relatives, leading to more pluralized chaplaincies in public institutions.