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It is a bright and crisp Sunday morning in mid-May in Ilulissat on Greenland’s west coast, more than 300 kilometres north of the Arctic circle. As usual, the sea is scattered with glittering icebergs in different shapes and sizes. This morning, like most mornings this time of the year, new formations of frozen water, calved from the Greenland icecap at the bottom of Ilulissat Icefjord, have made their way out into the Disko Bay and shaped up right in front of Zion Church, one of Church of Greenland’s two churches in use in Ilulissat. Built in 1779, this dark-brown wooden jewel is the oldest church in the country and a natural meeting place for locals.

Es una mañana de domingo brillante y fresca de mediados de mayo en Ilulissat, en la costa oeste de Groenlandia, a más de 300 kilómetros al norte del círculo polar ártico. Como de costumbre, el mar está salpicado de brillantes icebergs de diferentes formas y tamaños. Esta mañana, como la mayoría de las mañanas en esta época del año, nuevas formaciones de agua helada, nacidas de la capa de hielo de Groenlandia en el fondo del fiordo de Ilulissat, han salido a la bahía de Disko y se han formado justo enfrente de la Iglesia de Sión, una de las dos iglesias de la Iglesia de Groenlandia en uso en Ilulissat. Construida en 1779, esta joya de madera de color marrón oscuro es la iglesia más antigua del país y un lugar de encuentro natural para los lugareños.

When he was asked last year to take over as vicar in the parish of Ilulissat, on Greenland’s west coast, Loqqi Fleischer was a bit anxious about how the transition from his smaller hometown Uummannaq, further north along the coastline, would work out. Nevertheless, he took on the challenge and was warmly welcomed right away in the new environment.

People still often refer to him as “the cop”, when he walks down the streets. Working as a police officer for 14 years has made John Johansen, a familiar face in his hometown Nuuk, Greenland’s capital. Ordained in 2015, he was promoted last year to lead the deanery of mid Greenland, one of three deaneries within the diocese of Greenland, and its largest in terms of population and church members.

It is midnight and the sun just about hides for a little while beneath the horizon. The calm sea is scattered with icebergs in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Some are like five-story buildings, with vertical sharp-edged walls rising high above the surface. Others are more like snow-capped hilltops, slowly ploughing through the blank water.

Among the many international guests at the Heavenly Days on the Heath, which unfolded during the Ascension holidays in Herning in Denmark, was Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches.

El Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, secretario general del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias fue uno de los múltiples invitados internacionales a los Días Celestiales en el Brezal (Heavenly Days on the Heath), que tuvieron lugar durante las fiestas de Ascensión en Herning (Dinamarca).

It is confirmation season in Greenland. In churches across the country, bench rows are decorated with flowers and candles along the aisle. Joy is in the air and it is time for a vast majority of 14-year-olds to have their Christian baptism confirmed.

Es la temporada de confirmaciones en Groenlandia. En las iglesias de todo el país, los bancos de las iglesias están decorados con flores y velas a lo largo del pasillo central. La alegría se respira en el aire, pues ha llegado el momento de que la gran mayoría de jóvenes de 14 años confirme su bautismo cristiano.