Church of the Faroe Islands Church of the Faroe Islands The Church of the Faroe Islands (, "people's church") is one of the smallest of the world's state churches. Prior to its becoming independent on 29 July 2007, it had been a diocese of the Church of Denmark, a Lutheran church. As of 2017, 80.2% of the Faroe Islanders belonged to the state church. Other churches in the Faroe Islands include the Plymouth Brethren and the Catholic Church. According to "Færeyinga saga", it was the Viking chief Sigmundur Brestisson who brought Christianity to the Faroe Islands. On the orders of the Norwegian king Olaf Tryggvason,
LGBT rights in the Faroe Islands or be imprisoned for up to two years." When the law took effect on 1 January 2007, the Faroe Islands became the last Northern European country to ban discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation. Prior to 2012, LGBT rights was not a high-profile issue in the Faroe Islands. The Faroe Islands had been viewed by neighboring countries and worldwide media as a homophobic country for a long time. Generally, this was because religious observance is stronger and more widespread in the Faroe Islands than any other Nordic country, and due to the lack of LGBT rights, such as recognition