Hundreds of Christians demonstrated outside Norwegian embassies across Europe last weekend in support of the Bodnariu family, whose children were removed by Norway's child protection services, the Barnevernet, before Christmas.

However, one Norwegian government spokesman has said that the protests are based on a "misunderstanding". 

Marius Bodnariu is a Romanian married to Ruth, a Norwegian. Formerly members of the Philadelphia Pentecostal Church in Bucharest, they moved to Norway 10 years ago to start a family there and live in Naustdal on the west coast, north of Bergen. Their children were removed in November last year on suspicion of parental child abuse and religious indoctrination.

Their case has been widely publicised on social media networks and has been cited as an example of the persecution of Christians in Norway. The Barnevernet has previously been criticised for removing children, particularly from immigrant and mixed families, with insufficient cause. A particular issue is physical correction, illegal in Norway but routine in other countries.

Last weekend 18 demonstrations were held in Romania, Norway, Spain and other countries.

The Norwegian authorities have been slow to comment on the case, citing privacy concerns. However, in an interview with Spanish website Protestante Digital, Lars Andersen, Minister Counselor of the Norwegian embassy in Spain, defended the Barnevernet. He said there had been "many imprecisions and wrong assumptions about child protection in Norway" and that children were removed only when there were "severe negligences, like violence and abuse, or when the child´s health is in danger because the parents cannot take good care of him".

He said: "Demonstrations are a legal way to protest in Norway and Spain, but it seems that these ones have their origin in a misunderstanding about the way Norway deals with child protection."

While the case has become a rallying-point for conservative Christians, others have defended the Barnevernet. A Christian news outlet in Norway, Dagen, said that many claims made by international Christian media were "obviously erroneous" and that Norway was "not the Soviet Union".

It said: "What we can categorically state is that vital information about the reasons for the resolution by Barnevernet has been omitted in the written articles. And in the campaigns against the Norwegian Barnevernet run in the social media. Hence the picture presented of the alleged Christian persecution becomes unjust."

It concluded with a reference to the Roman persecutions of the early Church: "We know that the situation for Norwegian Christians is not on a catacomb level. Even if millions of Christians are now given that impression."