In a hospital just north of Copenhagen, Bishop Hans Ludvig Martensen passed away two days ago at noon, at the age of 84. Bishop Martensen was the second bishop of Copenhagen, the only Danish diocese, which covers the entire country plus Greenland, since it was elevated to a diocese in 1953.
Bishop Martensen was a native son of Copenhagen, where he was born in 1927. In 1945, he joined the Jesuit Order. At the age of 29, he was ordained to the priesthood. In 1965, Pope Paul VI appointed him as bishop of Copenhagen, a position he would hold for exactly thirty years. On the 30th anniversary of his appointment, 22 March 1995, Bishop Martensen resigned for health reasons. He held honorary doctorates from the Loyola University in Chicago and the universities of Bonn and Copenhagen.
An expert on ecumenism, something of a necessity in strongly Protestant Denmark, Bishop Martensen was a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the join working committee between the Church and the Lutheran World Federation.
The funeral will take place on 17 March from the Cathedral of St. Ansgar. Bishop Martensen will lie in state tomorrow afternoon and evening, when visitors may pay their respects.
Photo credit: Peter Kristensen, Kristeligt Dagblad
In Caelo et in Terra 
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