Solveig Fiske

Who is Solveig Fiske?

Solveig Margrete Fiske is a bishop in the Church of Norway in the Diocese of Hamar, seated in Hamar.

Originally from Frei in Møre og Romsdal, she graduated from the MF Norwegian School of Theology in 1980, and completed her practical training there in 1981. She worked as a consultant in the Church Council in 1981, and then was assigned to the parish in Elverum as a chaplain. In 1994 she became the parish priest in Løten, and in 2005 she became the personnel director for the diocese in Hamar.

When she was consecrated as bishop on December 17, 2006, she had spent her entire career within the diocese for which she became bishop. She was the fourth female bishop in the Church of Norway, succeeding the first, Rosemarie Köhn. Bishop Olav Skjevesland officiated at her consecration. On December 25, 2006, she went public with the view that the Church of Norway should develop a church liturgy for the establishment of same-sex partnerships.

She is also the world's first female diocesan bishop to succeed another woman.