During his recent visit to Denmark, Cardinal Pietro Parolin declined an invitation to sign a joint declaration regarding Greenland's sovereignty, in the hopes of maintaining neutrality and fostering dialogue, said Danish Bishop Czeslaw Kozon of Copenhagen.

In a telephone interview with OSV News Feb. 4, Bishop Kozon said that during the Vatican secretary of state's Jan. 24-26 visit, "there were some attempts to have the cardinal, together with others, sign a strong declaration regarding Greenland. 

However, Cardinal Parolin "chose not to sign that sort of declaration," and "no declaration (was) proposed after that," the bishop said, adding that the Holy See preferred to stay neutral and promote dialogue.

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The cardinal's visit came amid heightened tensions between Denmark and the United States over President Donald Trump's repeated threats to acquire Greenland.

Although Trump eventually ruled out the use of force and announced the framework of a deal with NATO, Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen warned that the U.S. president is still seeking "paths to ownership and control over Greenland."

According to a Feb. 2 report by the Reuters news agency, Nielsen, in an address to the island's parliament, said Trump's push to control Greenland has increased anxiety among residents who live with the "constant uncertainty about what may happen tomorrow."

The Danish bishop, whose diocese includes Greenland, echoed Nielsen's sentiments, saying that the small Catholic community there -- largely comprised of immigrants -- shares the deep "concerns of Greenlanders in general."

"It's a very tense, and it's, reasonably, a very insecure (situation)," he said.

Bishop Kozon told OSV News that while the purpose of Cardinal Parolin's two-day visit was "exclusively religious," his courtesy visits with King Frederik X and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen showed that the Holy See remained a key geopolitical "player."

"It wasn't the intention of the cardinal to express explicit criticism" of the U.S.'s wish to acquire Greenland, "but to underline that international law has to be kept," the Danish bishop said.

On Feb. 3, the standing committee of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union, known as COMECE -- an organization of which Bishop Kozon is one of four vice presidents -- issued a statement expressing "solidarity and spiritual closeness to the people of Greenland."

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The statement said Greenlanders "today face increasing geopolitical instability and uncertainty," reaffirming that "the future of Greenland must be decided by the people of Greenland themselves, in full respect of their rights, dignity and aspirations. At the same time, we underline the importance of upholding international law, the principles of the United Nations Charter and the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark," COMECE's committee said.

The bishops encouraged the European Union "to continue acting as a united, responsible, firm and trust-building force, remaining rooted in its fundamental values and committed to upholding a rules-based international system and effective multilateralism."

The European bishops also entrusted Greenland, Denmark and Europe to the "intercession of Mary, Queen of Peace, and Saint Ansgar, Apostle of the North."

The Vatican secretary of state's visit to Denmark was made on behalf of Pope Leo XIV, who appointed the cardinal as his papal legate to commemorate the 1,200th anniversary of the beginning of St. Ansgar's mission in Denmark.

The evangelization of Denmark first began in A.D. 826, when Emperor Louis the Pious, who ruled as king of the Franks, sent St. Ansgar, a Benedictine monk known as the “Apostle of the North,” to evangelize Denmark and Sweden during the Viking Age.

Although paganism maintained a strong foothold, St. Ansgar's missionary efforts bore fruit more than a century later, following the conversion of Danish King Harald Bluetooth to Christianity.

In an interview published Jan. 27 on the Diocese of Copenhagen's website, Cardinal Parolin said that while the world is vastly different from the ninth century, there is still a need for the mission, with "a new enthusiasm and new ways of meeting people in the world that is ours. 

Europe, he said, "is in a particular crisis" and that "it is difficult to talk about God because many are simply not interested in him."

"We have to find new ways to reach people. It's not just about preaching, but about creating a relationship, a connection; a place where the Gospel can be heard," Cardinal Parolin said.

Bishop Kozon told OSV News that St. Ansgar's "resilience" is needed in today's modern society, which often views faith as irrelevant. 

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"As Christians, regardless of denomination, we have to try to acquire this resilience to keep the faith ourselves, but also have the courage to share it with others and also to be bold enough to use Christian arguments in public debate," Bishop Kozon said.

"That means that religion should not be reserved to a private space, but is something that you can go and should go public with," he said.