Archives

• February 2022: Ongoing debate on stricter rules for grants to religious communities

In Sweden, minority religious communities have received regular financial support from the government since 1974 (SFS 1974:404), the same year freedom of religion became a constitutionally protected and absolute right of the individual in the Constitution of Sweden. The prime aim of the support was to provide more equal opportunities between minority religious communities and the majority state church - the Church of Sweden. At the time, the government grant was given with a strictly hands-off approach, meaning that the state should not interfere with the internal affairs of minority religious communities. However, this changed in 2000 when the state and church separated and a new condition was added to the support, namely that minority religious communities should contribute to maintaining and strengthening the fundamental values of Swedish society (SFS 1999: 932). Although the new condition clearly indicated a tougher rhetoric, it did not lead to stricter regulations, given that the principle of freedom of religion hindered the government from questioning the teachings or confessions of religious communities.

Since then, there has been an ongoing and at times heated public debate about whether or not minority religious communities should receive government subsidies and whether stricter regulations should be adopted. Opponents have argued that taxpayers’ money should not go to organisations that, for example, discriminate women and the LGBTQ community. As a result of the debate, the Swedish government appointed a new government commission in 2016 (Dir 2016:62) with the aim of putting forth new motives, objectives and conditions for the government grant to minority religious communities. In 2018 the final report was published and among other things a new democracy criterion was presented, including five new grounds for the exclusion of government support (SOU 2018:18). It essentially says that religious communities which do not respect certain fundamental values and which, for example, call for violence, violate children’s rights, restrict the rights of individual members, or express disrespect towards specific groups and individuals (for example based on gender, sexual orientation, ethnic orientation, etc.), should be excluded from governmental support (and be forced to repay previous support).

Following the commission proposal, many organisations, religious communities, agencies and institutions took part in the referral process (Ku2018/00653/D). Yet, despite a large support for the commission’s proposal of stricter regulation, at present the outcome of the commission is still unclear and the current government has not proposed new policies regarding the grant to minority religious communities.

Linnea Lundgren

• January 2022: Jehovah’s Witnesses obtain one million Euro of state funding and compensation

After years of debate Jehovah’s Witnesses have for the first time received Swedish state grants as a religious community, according to the principle that grants are distributed to minority religious communities in Sweden (the majority church, the Church of Sweden is not included in the system for state grants).
Jehovah’s witnesses have applied for state grants several times since 2007, but the government has always rejected the applications. According to the law on state support to religious communities, the community must, among other things, "Contribute to maintaining and strengthening the basic values on which society is based" in order to receive funding for its activities. Whether Jehovah’s Witnesses do so or not has been disputed for twelve years. The government argued that their members are not encouraged to participate in political elections, or to take on political roles and duties. Thereby, Jehovah’s witnesses were regarded as not encouraging their members to take part in the life of society. Added to this, their attitude to general principles concerning health and medical care was also mentioned, as members of the Witnesses refuse blood transfusions. Another argument was the difficult situation for ex-members, who in some cases are isolated from the members.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have twice appealed the decision to the Supreme Administrative Court, which after a long process decided that the government’s justifications were not sufficient to prevent Jehovah’s Witnesses from qualifying for government grants. The community received the first grant of 200 000 Euro for the year 2021. Additionally the Chancellor of Justice has granted 850 000 Euro damages for the years when their applications for grants were rejected. So they have received altogether just over 1 million Euro. "This is an acknowledgment and a victory in principle," said Raymond Beaini, elder brother and spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses.
There is consequently a conflict between the government and the Supreme Administrative Court regarding the view of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The court’s decision to approve financial support has been questioned by previous members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses who have left the movementand denounce its lack of democratic values. Therefore, the debate on state grants to Jehovah’s witnesses will probably continue ("Efter tolvåriga tvisten: Jehovas får miljonbelopp i skadestånd", SVT Nyheter, 9 January 2022).

Per Pettersson

D 16 February 2022    ALinnea Lundgren APer Pettersson

• May 2019: Ritual slaughter

Sweden banned slaughter without prior sedation in 1937, and provides no exception for religious slaughter.

There are no pending proposals (Sw: motioner) in the Swedish Parliament to allow for unsedated religious slaughter. The anti-immigration Swedish Democrats Party (Sverigedemokraterna) has put forward a proposal that would require labelling of imported meat from animals slaughtered without prior sedation, specifically referring to a ban on kosher and halal products. Both the Jewish congregation in Stockholm and Muslim representatives are actively lobbying the Swedish Parliament to allow for slaughter in accordance with kosher and halal practices, i.e. without prior sedation of the animal.

The Swedish government has presented a proposal to the law council (lagrådsremiss) for a new Animal Welfare Act. The proposal would not allow for religious slaughter without prior sedation.

Source: Elin Hovferberg, ‘Sweden’, Legal Restrictions on Religious Slaughter in Europe, at US Library of Congress, 2018.

D 20 May 2019    APer Pettersson

• April 2017: Swedish court case on Freedom of Religion: a Swedish Christian midwife argues the right to refuse taking part in abortions

A Swedish midwife who refuses to carry out abortions has appealed to a labour tribunal after having been denied employment three times. Ellinor Grimmark objects to be active in abortions because of her Christian faith, and refers to the principle of freedom of religion, which is a fundamental part of Swedish constitutional law. The appeal hearing was held in January 2017, and the verdict is expected in April.

See BBC website and Radio Sweden website.

• March 2017: Report on the Muslim Brotherhood in Sweden causes debate

A report on the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Sweden has been published by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap, MSB, February 2017).
It is based on a study held November-December 2016, and reveals that the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the Swedish society and its political parties, through several Muslim organisations and individuals, since the 1970’s. According to the report, the Muslim Brotherhood is striving to become the representatives of the Muslim minorities to the authorities. The authors, Magnus Norell, Aje Carlbom and Pierre Durrani, argue that this organisation is creating a kind of “parallel society” with the aim to implement an agenda of islamization. The report has caused a polarised public debate. 22 Swedish academic scholars in religious studies have published an article criticizing the report. They argue that the report lacks scientific quality and cannot be taken seriously. But the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency has defended the report, since no other research has been made on the Muslim Brotherhood in Sweden. There is a need of such studies. The report is starting point, towards getting knowledge on the influence of this islamist network on the Swedish society, and its impact on the security of the country. For Anneli Bergholm Söder, head of the Operations Department of the MSB, the aim of this study is to determine which areas of research and study should be developed in that field.

Swedish national TV website:
– "Norell slår tillbaka: Muslimska brödraskapet väl etablerat i Sverige"
– "Forskare sågar terrorexperten Magnus Norells rapport om islamism i Sverige".

D 5 April 2017    APer Pettersson

• January 2015: The ’least religious’ nation in the Western world?

According to the WIN/Gallup International 2014 End of Year Survey, 59% of Swedes declared themselves "not a religious person" and 17% "a convinced atheist". Nearly 8 out of 10 Swedes, thus, claim to be not religious, whereas only 19% claim to be "a religious person". In the majority of the 65 other countries taken into account for the survey, more than 6 people out of 10 view themselves as "religious".
Only some Asian countries (China, Hong Kong and Japan) appear to have a greater proportion of atheists than Sweden.
There is a contrast between this study and the importance of the Church of Sweden, declaring 6.3 million members in a country of nearly 10 million inhabitants. However, less than 5% of Swedes are regular churchgoers (see the heading Religious practice).
This shows that, in Sweden as in many other Western countries, there is a difference between religious belonging, religious affirmation (considering oneself a religious person), and religious practice.

Source: The Local

D 9 February 2015    AAnne-Laure Zwilling

• July 2008: Same-sexe marriages (continued)

There is still no decison from neither the Government nor the Parliament in the matter of same-sex marriages. The Prime Minister has publicly said that a proposal from the Government to the Parliament will be given later this year. It is well-known, though, that the four political parties in Sweden that the present Government consists of are of different opinion in the question of same-sex marriages. Thus, one can so far only guess what the proposal will contain. A private bill in the Parliament from some members of the opposition regarding same-sex marriages was rejected by the Parliament earlier this year.

• July 2008: Divine services in radio and TV

The last months, there has been some debate regarding the fact that the Swedish Radio Company and the Swedish TV Company (both "public service") regularly broadcast divine services. Representatives of the Swedish Humanist Association, the unexpected small atheist organization of Sweden, has heavily opposed this situation. Priests in the Church of Sweden as well as neutral commentators have answered that a big majority of the Swedes in fact are church members. There have been no answers so far from the broadcasting companies.

D 4 October 2012    ALars Friedner

• May 2007: The Province of Mission (continued)

Another current debate concerns the establishment of the Province of Mission (Sw. Missionsprovinsen). A number of members of the Church of Sweden, who can not accept the development in the church, i.e. with women priests and bishops, have started this organisation in order to be able to ordain priests, who are not willing to co-operate with women priests. Such men are nowdays not ordained within the Church of Sweden.
The members of the province themselves regard the province as an organisation within the Church of Sweden. The leaders of the Church of Sweden, on the contrary, have argued that the Province is to be seen as a new church.

The clash between the church and the province came when the province consecrated a province bishop. This person, a retired priest of the Church of Sweden, was then disordained by the church. The consecrating bishop, a lutheran bishop from Kenya, until then a counselor to the Lutheran World Federation, was removed from this post by the federation. The reason was that he had interfered in another member church. Later, other priests in the Church of Sweden were consecrated as bishops of the province.
One of these priests, who was still in active duty, was – as a result of being disordained – fired from his employment in the local parish. He complained over this decision to the National Labour Court, but the court upheld the decision. The court concluded that the priest had not been loyal to his employer.

• March 2007: Same-sex marriages (continued)

The issue of same-sex marriages is widely debated in Sweden at the moment. The Government had appointed the former Chancellor to give proposals concerning a “sex neutral” Matrimony Act. The ex-chancellor presented his proposals in March, 2007. These proposals contain a sex neutral Matrimony Act. The right for churches and other religious communities to officiate marriages will remain. But no church or religious community – or any individual priest – will be obliged to officiate a marriage. This means that a church, that does not want to officiate marriages for same-sex couples, does not have to do it.
Sweden has today a Partnership Act – for homosexual couples – separate from the Matrimony Act, but marriage and partnership are in practice legally the same. The only difference today regards international effects. Most churches and other religious communities in Sweden have the right to officiate marriages. Registration of partnership, though, can only be officiated by the authorities.

The standpoints of the Swedish churches and other religious communities differ. The Lutheran majority church, Church of Sweden, has since some months an official blessing act for same-sex couples. The Church of Sweden has also declared its openness even to officiate registration of partnership. But the church wants the words “marriage” only to be used for a woman-man-couple.
Several other churches, among them the Roman-Catholic Church and the Pentecostal Movement, are strongly against any thought of same-sex “marriages”. They have opposed against the Church of Sweden decision on blessing of same-sex couples.

There is, so far, no decision from the Government or the Parliament in the matter of same-sex marriages.

D 4 October 2012    ALars Friedner

• June 2006: Same-sex marriages

The issue of same-sex marriages is widely debated in Sweden at the moment. The Government has appointed the former Chancellor to give proposals concerning a "sex neutral" Matrimony Act. The ex-chancellor is expected to present his proposals in the beginning of 2007.

Sweden has today a Partnership Act – for homosexual couples – separate from the Matrimony Act, but marriage and partnership are in practice legally the same. The only difference today regards international effects. Most churches and other religious communities in Sweden have the right to officiate marriages. Partnership, though, can only be officiated by the authorities.

The standpoint of the Swedish churches and other religious communities differs. The Lutheran majority church, Church of Sweden, has since some years a statement of the bishops, which opens for the priests of the church to give blessings to same-sex couples. In some cases these "blessing acts" have come to be an "act of wedding". Last autumn, the Church of Sweden synod decided on an official blessing act for same-sex couples. The task was given to the Church Board to create the details of the act. The new act is planned to come into effect during the later part of 2006.
Several other churches, among them the Roman-Catholic Church and the Pentecostal Church, are strongly against any thought of same-sex "marriages". They have opposed against the Church of Sweden decision in the matter.
The churches are represented as an advisory group to the ex-chancellor. They will certainly make their different opinions known to him during his work.

• March 2006: The Province of mission

Another current debate concerns the establishment of the "Province of Mission" (Sw. Missionsprovinsen). A number of members of the Church of Sweden, who can not accept the development in the church, i.e. with women priests and bishops, have started this organisation in order to be able to ordain priests, who are not willing to co-operate with women priests. Such men are nowadays not ordained within the Church of Sweden.
The members of the province themselves regard the province as an organisation within the Church of Sweden. The leaders of the Church of Sweden, on the contrary, have argued that the Province is to be seen as a new church.

The clash between the church and the province came when the province consecrated a province bishop. This person, a retired priest of the Church of Sweden, was then disordained by the church. The consecrating bishop, a Lutheran bishop from Kenya, until then a counselor to the Lutheran World Federation, was removed from this post by the federation. The reason was that he had interfered in another member church. Later, another priest in the Church of Sweden was disordained. He was the secretary of the province and had been very active in the establishment of the organisation.

D 2 October 2006    ALars Friedner