Religion

One of the ties that links the Scandinavian countries together is a common Lutheran religion. The Swedish situation is special, however, since the Church of Sweden, "Svenska Kyrkan", very early became a part of the central administration. Gradually, however, the church has been separated from the state and in 1996 it gained its full independence. This means, among other things, that children have to be baptized in order to become members of the church. Before the separation, children born in Sweden automatically became members of the national church.

The fact that the Church of Sweden has many members does not mean that average people go to church every Sunday or that they have a personal Christian belief. As a matter of fact, only few percent of the population regularly attend church services.

However, many people visit church at Christmas, Easter and at Advent Sunday, and lots of couples find a church wedding more festive and romantic than a short ceremony before the registrar. In the same way, a christening is seen as a way of welcoming and naming a new member of the family, as well as a reason for gathering friends and relatives. Today, three out of four children are baptized, usually in connection with a church service.

Centuries old churches still tower above the Stockholm skyline, marking a bygone era, when religion played an active part in the lives of the people. Photo: SIS

In this way, the church has kept a certain status as a preserver of tradition in times of social and economic change. To generalize this on a wider geographical scale, one could perhaps say that Scandinavians share a Lutheran past, a present state of religious indifference, as well as the idea that the church still has an important part to play in the major events of life.

Apart from Lutheran Christianity, numerous churches and sects are found in Sweden, many of them fairly small. A large number of immigrants are either Catholics or Muslims. In recent years there are also a large part of Hindus and Buddhists among the immigrants. More recently founded religious communities include Mormons, Pentecostalists, and Jehovah´s Witnesses.

Sveriges Kristenhet Names and addresses to all local churches in Sweden. Churches belonging to both the church of Sweden and "free" churches.
Katolska Kyrkan Catholic Churc in Sweden

Literature on Swedish religion

If you are interested in reading more about religion in Sweden, the title "The Blackwell Companion to Protestantism" by Darren C Marks and Alister E McGrath could be an interesting choice for you to read. More books are listed here on Print Google.