By Kathryn Idema, from Anglican Ink.
What does it mean if the Church of Sweden only employs priests who are ready to perform same-sex marriages? Is that equal treatment for everybody or a denial of freedom of belief for some? The Evangelical Alliance in the country has its concerns.
It indeed seems that the Church of Sweden is heading towards only appointing priests who are willing to perform same-sex marriages. The exception for priests to marry men and women only might not be extended. “No one is forced to apply for a certain job”, the Church says.
That was concluded from a report by the Church of Sweden and the Swedish legal agency Next. The issue concerns prospective priests when they apply for a church position and whether they have the legal obligation to marry same-sex couples. In Sweden, most marriages are performed in the church. Even people who do not attend church usually prefer ecclesiastical marriage over purely civil marriage.
Investigation
This debate has been going on for years. However, the matter escalated when the Church of Sweden consulted lawyers from the legal agency Next and released its conclusions in January of this year. The investigation found no legal consequences when it comes to requiring newly hired priests to marry same-sex couples. The Church could consider such gay marriages as an employment requirement, even if the prospective priests cited personal religious convictions.
Yet Kjell Lejon, a university professor of Church History and Head of the independent church publication Swedish Pastoral Journal (Svensk Pastoraltidskrift) sees the Church’s report as “ideologically coloured.”
In 2023, the Church of Sweden and Next began the independent investigation. In addition to Next finding “no obstacles in Swedish law,” the issue of discrimination against homosexuals was more of a concern than personal religious convictions among the Church’s prospective priests, they said in Dagen.