Church and State in Sweden

The Revd Dr Ragnar Persenius, Secretary for the Church,

Sweden
The Nordic countries have a similar history and development since the 16th century
reformation. The principle of cuius regie, eius religio, one ruler, one religion, was
established in these countries. In principle there was a unity between king, society
and church. The religion was regarded as a unifying bond for the new national state.
Although there were some exceptions, all citizens were expected not only to be
members of the church but also to be believers and communicants. The Nordic state
was by definition a Christian state. The development during the last centuries has
changed this picture. Denmark and Norway have shared a common history, Sweden
and Finland also. The present day differences between the Nordic Lutheran Folk
Churches mainly are dependent on how far the revival movements have been
integrated into the National churches, the legal development within the countries,
and the changing religious scene. Sweden is no longer by definition a Christian state,
although the reluctance of the present Government to abolish the constitutional
demands on the King to confess the pure evangelical Lutheran faith may speak a
different language than the Constitution Act. In any way, whereas the status of being
an established church is concerned the situation in the Nordic countries differs
greatly from that of the Church of England, which, as we understand it, in effect is of
a more symbolic nature.

After more than four decades of intense debate the farreaching reform of the
Church-State relationship in Sweden will come into effect by the year 2000. The
preparatory work has been based on decisions taken in 1995 by the Church Synod
and the Parliament regarding the guidelìnes for the reform. Since the reform aims at
giving the Church of Sweden an independent status it includes changes in the
Constitutional Act, adoption of new laws and a decision by the General Synod of the
Church concerning a new Church Ordinance, replacing the present Church Code from
1992 and the previous from 1686.

I. Timetable

The reform is prepared according to the following timetable:

August 1995 The Church Synod made a statement concerning the future
relations between the Church of Sweden and the State, thus
responding to proposals for a reform made by the Swedish
government;
December 1995 The Parliament passed a Bill with guidelines for the reform; January
1996 Commissions appointed by either the State or the Church of
Sweden began their preparatory work;
April 1997 The public commissions presented proposals to the governrnent for
legislation, organization and financing of the burial system, status of
Church property and archives, financing of Church buildings with an
outstanding cultural heritage of national interest, taxation of and
support for churches and other religious communities, and State
assistance in collection of membership fees by means of the
 taxation system;
November 1997 An extra session of the Church Synod took decision on proposals
from the government on Church legislation;
5 March 1998 The ecclesiastical commissions presented proposals to the Church of
Sweden Central Board for a new Church Ordinance;
August 1998 Remaining proposals from the Government are put before the
Church Synod;
Spring/autumn The Parliament passes a Bill on changes in the Constitutional Act
1998 before and after the 1998 general election;
May-June 1999 The Church Synod adopts the Church Ordinance;
January 1,
The coming into force of the reform.
2000

II. The Reform

The commissions appointed by the Government made their proposals after just more
than one year of work in April 1997. The proposals have then been referred to a
broad range of parishes, dioceses, church organizations, relìgious communities and
other organizations for consideration. In November last year the Church Synod
accepted the proposed changes in the Constitution Act and the proposed framework
legislation for the churches and other religious communities. The Government now
has put these proposals before Parliament. The legislation process in this case
requires one decision before the September general election and an other
afterwards. In August this year the Governmant will put before Church Synod and
Parliament other proposals, the most important of these concern the burial system
and the preservation of the ecclesiastical cultural heritage.

The main content of the reform is as follows.

Legislation

The aims of the reform from a legal point of view are

• to give constitutional provisions for religious communities ensuring solid and

long-term conditions,
• to introduce a special legal entity for religious communities,
• to regulate the transition process so that Church of Sweden can be fully
independent from the State in year 2000 without changing ecclesiological
identity, and
• to regulate more in detail those areas where Church of Sweden still have
public responsibilities.

Changes in the Constitution Act

A special legal entity, the Registered religious community, will be created to give all
religious communities in Sweden a specific status of law. Provisions for this will be
held in the Constitution Act. This means that all these communities are to be given
the opportunity to exist according to their own selfunderstanding using the new legal
status. It is especially positive that the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox
Churches no longer need to use the legal forms such as foundation or union, forms
which were more suitable for the Free Churches.

Laws relating to the Church of Sweden and the religious communities will obtain
protection from this Act. This means that there will be no other legal means for the
State by which it can prescribe something to the religious communities. And the laws
must receive a qualified majority in Parliament or be decided twice with a general
election in between.

The Religious Communities Act

Provisions for the new legal entity will be held in a Religious Communities Act. Since
this Act also will replace the 1951 Act on Religious Freedom, it is proposed to begin
with four paragraphs which have the character of legislation on religious freedom.
First there is a reference to the Constitution Act and the European Convention for the
protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Then the religious community
is defined as a community for religious activity, which includes to hold worship. This
definition even gives legal protection to the community which not yet has chosen a
specific legal form. In the proposed third paragraph it is stated that there is no
compulsion for anybody to belong to a religious community. In the fourth paragraph
children from the age of twelve are given a veto when parents want to make
changes in their membership in a religious community. When children grow older
more and more consideration for their opinions and requests must be taken.

The following part of the proposed Religious Communities Act deals with the
Registered religious community. It is stated that the Church of Sweden will be using
the new legal form. This Church obtains this legal status by law. It is given by the
separate Church of Sweden Act. Other religious communities obtain the status by a
procedure of registration. All communities will have the opportunity to exist
according to their own self understanding using the new legal status, even though it
will be possible for them to use the present legal forms as foundation or union also in
the fixture.

The registration of a religious community comprises name, constitution, how

decisions are made and who are the authorized representative of the community. It
is also possible to register recognized entities within the religious community.
Financial support and other aspects of the relation between the State and the
religious communities are proposed to be regulated separately.

The Church of Sweden Act

The proposed Church of Sweden Act is intended to provide the organization of the
Church with a stable and long-term legal status after the reform. This act as well as
the Religious Communities Act will enjoy special constitutional safeguards. The
Church of Sweden will be granted an independent status as a legal person in its own
right. The normative competence will not any longer be delegated from Parliament to
the Church Synod. Parishes will continue as legal persons but without the status they
have now as local authorities comparable to the secular. The dioceses will be legal
persons in their own right.

The basic identity and organizational structure of the Church of Sweden are
described in the fourteen provisions of the Church of Sweden Act. With the exception
of a few regulations in different laws all other regulations - about six hundred - in the
present Church Code must be transferred into the new Church Ordinance by the
Church Synod.

The Act notes that Church of Sweden is an episcopally structured, open, democratic
and country-wide Church. A description ofthe local, regional and national levels of
the Church is given with regulations concerning the fundamental tasks of parishes,
dioceses and the Church Synod. The proposed provisions are intended to maintain a
decentralized organization with a far-reaching independence for parishes and
dioceses.

The locally and regionally determined compulsory Church fee is regulated in the Act.
The fee will be compulsory for those who belong to the Church of Sweden and will be
levied according to financial means. In all practicality it will be treated as a tax.

In principle, all denominations using the new legal status as Registered religious
communities also have the possibility to use the regular taxation system to collect
their membership fees. In their case the Government decides.

There are some provisions included in the Church of Sweden Act concerning a part of
the property, the accessibility of public and ecclesiastical documents, and the
responsibility for archives. Finally, the State demands that Church of Sweden
introduces some kind of ecclesiastical court system. All this is done in order to
preserve the open character of the Church of Sweden, which is something that the
Church Synod also has underlined the importance of.

Organization and financing of the Burial System

In spite of the fact that the reform aims at establishing the Church of Sweden as a
from the State independent Church, the responsibility for both existing and future
public burial-places is proposed to generally rest with the parishes of the Church of
Sweden. When this is the case, the parishes probably also will have the duty of
providing burialplaces for persons not belonging to a Christian denomination. But all
denominations and local authorities will have the possibility to establish new, from
the Church of Sweden independent, burial-places.

For the members ofthe Church the cost for burials will be included in the locally
determined Church fee. Others will pay a corresponding separate fee for the burial
system. The parish or secular authority responsible for the local burial system will
receive the money on the basis of a statement of account. A nation-wide clearing
system for the cost of burials has been proposed.

The status of Church property and archives

Legal provisions have to be made to guarantee that the property of the Church of
Sweden, as hitherto, will be fully reserved for intended purposes. It is of vital
importance that the status of a part of the property becomes clarified. The Church
buildings with their rich cultural heritage are of a vital national interest. Although
their legal status is clear and need no change, the State also in the future has a role
to financially support and provide for the preservation ofthis heritage. How this is do
be done, we do not know yet. But in some way all citizens have to contribute to the
the costs.

The present public archives of the Church of Sweden should keep their public status.
And the archives of the independent Church of Sweden should also be accessible for
every citizen after the year 2000. This shows the importance the principle of public
documents has for the Swedish society.

The transferring process

Many proposals are related to the process of transferring legal authority from the
present parishes, dioceses and public authorities to the corresponding entities within
the independent Church of Sweden. Personnel must be employed by the
corresponding legal person. The Church Synod must have legal authority to make
decisions in 1999 concerning the independent Church. The same is a necessity for
parishes and dioceses. In the fall of 1999, among other things, they have to decide
upon the size ofthe locally and regionally determined Church fee. There will be a
continuity of representatives to Church synods and councils.. The September 1997
elections for parishes, diocesan and national synods were for a four year period. A
separate Act for the transferring process will guarantee the continuity of the Church
authorities. In the year 2001 the first elections of the independent Church of Sweden
will be held.