Norwegian Christians are glad the Bodnariu family and their children have been reunited after they were separated by the country's Barnevernet child welfare service, according to the editor of a Christian daily news service.

However, Tarjei Gilje, an editor at the daily newspaper Dagen, told Evangelical Focus that they also felt their country had been misrepresented in foreign media.

The five children of Marius and Ruth Bodnariu were removed last November in a case that stirred outrage around the world and led to thousands of demonstrators protesting outside Norwegian embassies.

The children were returned five weeks ago and the family has requested peace and privacy since then.

Gilje said: "I think many Christians have a feeling that Barnevernet needs to be looked after more closely. But I also think many Christians feel that much of the criticism against Barnevernet has been based on insufficient knowledge and prejudice. This applies especially for much of the criticism coming from abroad."

He said there was a "systemic problem in Barnevernet", which had to do with "insufficient competence and too much power with local employees". He added: "Furthermore, it is possible that we as Christians too easily have accepted that the state is given too central a role in relation to the families. This is partly because we in Norway have a high degree of trust in the authorities, and partly because of stories of how bad things can go when children are left alone in families where their very lives are in danger".

Gilje said Norwegian Christians "feel that the interference of the Barnevernet in this particular case was highly disproportionate, and are happy that the children are back with their parents", he believes.

However, he added: "It has been disappointing to see how Christians in many countries are willing to make harsh statements against Norway and the Norwegian Barnevernet while their very statements prove that they have very limited knowledge of the Norwegian society."

The children were removed from the Bodnarius amid allegations Barnevernet objected to the family's Pentecostal religion. It later emerged that the parents used smacking as a means of punishment, which is illegal in Norway.

Barnevernet has faced repeated criticisms over its treatment of the children of immigrant and mixed-ethnicity families.