Icelandic Visitor

Another bishop who dropped into Washington to witness the Episcopal consecration of Dr. Angus Dun was Dr. Sigurgeir Sigurdsson, Lutheran bishop of Iceland. Dr. Sigurdsson was on his way back to Reykjavik after representing Iceland's Government at the silver jubilee of the Icelandic National League in Winnipeg. He also had met as many as possible of the 12,000 Icelanders in the U.S. and assured Americans that U.S. troops are happy in Iceland. He concedes that the sudden influx of thousands of servicemen into Iceland created problems. But they were no worse than those of any U.S. small town with a big Army camp plunked down beside it. Now recreational facilities have improved, and Icelanders have lost some of their shyness toward the strangers.

The bishop thinks the charm of his bleak, almost treeless island has grown on servicemen. Many have told him they plan to return for postwar visits. Says he: "American soldiers are going to be Iceland's biggest advertisement when the war is over."

Of Iceland's 130,000 population all but 400 Roman Catholics and 70 Seventh-Day Adventists are included in Dr. Sigurdsson's see.

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