Pagan group urges Archbishop of Canterbury to return 'stolen' church buildings

A group of pagans has reportedly written a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury demanding the return of two churches that were supposedly stolen 1,300 years ago.

The Odinist Fellowship, which has about 1,000 members, is reportedly demanding the return of two churches to make up for actions that took place during the Christianization of England.

In a letter sent to Archbishop Justin Welby last month, the group demanded an apology from the Church of England for past "crimes against the Odinists."

"With a view to re-establishing better relations between the Odinist Fellowship and the Christian churches in England, and persuaded that a restitution of past wrongs is the best way to lay the foundations of improved relations, we wish you to be aware that the great majority of Odinists believe that honour requires the English church to issue a public apology for its former crimes against the Odinists," the letter stated, according to The Telegraph.

Ralph Harrison, director of the Fellowship, said that two bishops have issued responses, which he says have been "polite, but nothing substantial."

"The objective is just to get the Church to acknowledge that it has got a history of persecution when it comes to the Odinist religion and it has to take stock of that and not just write it out of history. Within the Odinist community there is a strong sense of antagonism towards the institutional Church," Harrison said.

The Fellowship, which has been registered as a religious charity since 1988, is asking the Church of England to give it a church from the diocese of York and a church from the diocese of Canterbury.

The group had also sent a letter to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York last year, warning that it will persist with its claims until the Church decides to comply with its demands.

According to the group, early church leaders seized many temple grounds and converted them to churches during the Christianization of England in the seventh century.

Dr. James Palmer, a historian of early medieval Europe at the University of St Andrews, explained that the belief that churches had been "stolen" from pagans were based on letters sent by Pope Gregory, who sent missionaries to Britain in 596 to convert the pagan Anglo Saxons.

In the letters, Gregory encouraged missionaries to turn existing pagan temples into Christian places of worship in the hope that natives would continue to attend and eventually be converted.

Palmer, however, said that many of the pagan temples had been originally converted from Christian churches left behind by the Romans, who had left at the start of the fifth century.

The historian also noted that in many places, Christianity co-existed with paganism in the same spaces. One leader, Rædwald of East Anglia, was said to have erected an altar for Christian worship alongside a pagan one.

Odinism follows the High Gods of Asgarth, whom adherents consider to be "firm friends and powerful allies," rather than their masters. Harrison says that there are currently around 10,000 Odinists in the country.