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Sweden aims to ditch church parishes

More than a decade after the Church of Sweden split from the state, the government wants to stop using church parish boundaries in population statistics, angering researchers who wish to retain the 500-year-old subdivisions.

Published: 9 April 2013 10:17 CEST
Sweden aims to ditch church parishes

Currently, people living in Sweden are registered (folkbokförd) according to their parishes (församlingar) – geographical areas determined more than five centuries ago by the Church of Sweden.

However, the government finally agreed on a proposal on Tuesday that would abandon the practice of registering Swedes according to their church parish after January 1st, 2016, according to the Riksdag & Department newspaper.

Instead, Swedish residents would be registered by their “district” – state picked areas that follow the boundaries of the parishes from when the church separated from the state in 2000.

The proposal comes after four years of deliberation by the government, which has struggled to assuage concerns of researchers upset by attempts to phase out the concept, arguing that parishes have been used in Sweden for more than 500 years and should be kept.

Even though the Church of Sweden was separated from the state 13 years ago, its parishes have remained in the government’s books.

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CHURCH

Denmark planning to reopen churches for Easter Sunday

Denmark's government is planning to open the way for limited church services over Easter, so that Christians can celebrate the resurrection, even during the coronavirus lockdown.

Published: 1 April 2020 19:00 CEST
Denmark planning to reopen churches for Easter Sunday
In the Church of Denmark, those taking community traditionally drink from the same silver cup. Photo: Church of Denmark
If services go ahead, it will mark the first relaxation of the country's lockdown since it was imposed on March 11. 
 
“Easter is the most important celebration of the church year,” Denmark's church minister Joy Mogensen said in a press release. “This is especially the case during a sombre time when the Danes are looking for community and meaning, which is why the government is now working on a solution so that we can celebrate Easter in church in a responsible way.” 
 
Churches and church halls have been closed in Denmark since March 11, along with mosques, synagogues and other places of worship. 
 
 
But with the country set to begin gradually lifting its coronavirus restrictions after Easter, the leadership of the Church of Denmark is now holding discussions with the Danish Health Authority and the Church Ministry on how to safely allow services to proceed on Easter Sunday. 
 
The government gave no details on what a responsible church service might entail, or whether it would be possible for churchgoers to pray and sing together in church or to receive communion. 
 
In the National Church of Denmark, communion typically involves a long queue to go the alter where all who are receiving the sacrament drink sips of wine from the same cup. 
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