Norwegian Christian Family to Be United with Their Seized Children After 7 Months

Ruth and Marius Bodnariu
Norwegian child services will return Ruth and Marius Bodnariu's five children who were seized about seven months ago for alleged indoctrination of "radical" Christianity and physical abuse by parents. |

The Christian parents of five children will be reunited with them soon, after a separation of seven months.

Marius and Ruth Bodnariu's children were seized by Norwegian child services, called the Barnevernet, for "indoctrinating" their kids with Christianity, and for minor spanking.

Now, Naustdal Municipality in Norway has finally agreed to surrender the children to their parents, after a deal was reached between the parents and the child services department, which says that the municipality must cooperate in relief efforts for the parents and children.

"We thank you all for your love, support, prayers, and active participation in the reunification of this family. May God richly bless you and repay you for all you have done to bring this family back together. It is very important for all of us to respect the privacy and uninterrupted intimacy of this family in the following period as the children resettle and reintegrate themselves in their natural family home and environment," the family said in a statement.

The county board or the courts were not involved in the decision, but it was directly reached through negotiations between a private law firm Stiegler on behalf of the parents and the Naustdal Municipality.

The family was living in Norway for the last 10 years, but their lives took a near-tragic turn when the Barnevernet took their five children from them and placed them under foster care. The reason given for their seizure was that they wanted to prevent indoctrination of kids by Christian parents, and from occasional physical correction.

The Barnevernet said that family's faith was not one of the reasons for separating children from their parents. But a Texas-based lawyer said earlier this year that government records show Barnevernet were concerned that the family had "their own faith and way of upbringing when it comes to religion."

Ruth Bodnariu said that she and her husband spanked their kids occasionally, "when they do something bad."

"They didn't find any physical marks or anything like that when they had medical examination on them, they were, are, all fine," she told the BBC. "But the law in Norway, it is very clear until the smallest detail, it's not allowed of any physical correction, and we have never been aware that it was this strict."

The parents were given their infant son Ezekiel back in April, after a Norwegian judge partially ruled in support of Bodnariu family. Ezekiel was taken away from them when he was three months old. The judge also gave them right to visit their two older sons twice a week for two hours at a time, but did not rule on parent's visitation rights for girls.

In mid-February, the whole family was allowed to meet with each other for a brief time for the first time in months.

"It was joyous because for the first time in three months, Marius and Ruth were together with all five children at the same time, in the same place," Bodnariu's spokesman, Pastor Cristian Ionescu, wrote on the family website. "It was such a happy reunion, for everybody had so much to say."

The case sparked international outcry, and Christian activist groups and world leaders from around the world expressed their concern regarding the issue.