St Lars katolska kyrka

ST LARS CATHOLIC CHURCH

Once in the part of Uppsala called Fjärdingen, we have three churches to visit. First, at the intersection of Västra Ågatan and Slottsgränd, we find St. Lars Catholic Church from 1985, of modern design inside but adapted to the classic Uppsala architecture of the university area outside - the famous Imperfektum student dormitory used to be located here. An important reason to visit the church is the icon that hangs near the baptismal font as a symbol of the ecumenical communion between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches. It depicts St. Anne of Novgorod, our Princess Ingegerd. Protestantism was not envisaged in Ingegerd's time, so Protestants can also feel part of the worldwide community! The icon is contemporary and executed with all the characteristics of the icon, so it shows an idealized female face without any claim to portrait similarity with the model. Ingegerd is given the attributes of a city and church builder, referring to both Novgorod and Kiev.

From "Ingegerdsleden: Pilgrimage route for spirituality, culture and peace" published by the Church of Sweden. Available as PDF: https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/filer/Ingegerdsleden_bok.pdf