SWEDEN
Religion

Cities in SWEDEN

Stockholm

Religion

Uppsala catedral, Sweden_{Photo: Szilas in the public domain}

The Swedish people were Christianized around the year 1000. The Roman Catholic Church established an archdiocese in Uppsala in 1164 and six dioceses in other places. The Reichstag broke off contacts with Rome in 1527 and the Evangelish Lutheran Church has been the state church in Sweden ever since. When one of the parents is a member of the Church, all Newborn Swedes automatically become members of the Swedish State Church. Until 1781 Catholicism was strictly forbidden; The Pope appointed vicars there from 1783, until in 1953 the Vicariate of Sweden was converted into the Diocese of Stockholm. The Lutheran pastors are also civil registrars; they marry, register births and deaths. In 1958 it was decided to admit women to the priesthood as well. The church includes the Archdiocese of Uppsala and twelve dioceses, with a total of 2,565 parishes. The bishops are appointed by the government.

About 89% of the Swedes are Lutherans (of which about 30% are non-practicing), 2% are Roman Catholic, 1% are members of some Pentecostal group, and 3% are Liberal Churches. Furthermore, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Muslims form large communities. Dual membership, of the Church of Sweden and of one of the small denominations, is common. Although weekly church attendance is low, in 1980 more than three-quarters of all children were still baptized; 94% of all funerals were ecclesiastical. In 1993 there were about 16,000 Jews in Sweden.

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Sources

Best, J. / Zweden
Gottmer

Carlsson, B. / Zweden
Corona

Danse, W. / Zweden
ANWB

Europese Unie
Europees Platform voor het Nederlandse Onderwijs

Meesters, G. / Zweden
ANWB

CIA - World Factbook

BBC - Country Profiles

Last updated March 2024
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