A Christian couple in Norway became embroiled in a battle with social services in November after their five children (Eliana, Naomi, Matthew, John and Ezekiel) were removed on charges including ‘Christian radicalisation and indoctrination’.
Marius Bodnariu, a Romanian citizen, and his wife Ruth, a Norwegian citizen, were former members of Philadelphia Pentecostal Church in Bucharest. They married in Romania, moved to and settled in Norway approximately ten years ago, to start and raise a family in Ruth’s hometown.
Parents arrested
According to a Facebook page set up in support of the family, the ordeal began on 16 November when Norway’s child welfare services, the Barnevernet, took the two oldest children out of school, without their parents’ knowledge, to an undisclosed location. Officials and police then visited the family home, where, apparently without any documentation, they seized their two sons and arrested Ruth, who they took to the police station along with three-month-old Ezekiel. Marius was arrested while he was at work and also taken into custody.
