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PRESS RELEASE |
Uppsala |
E-mail: lotten.andersson@svenskakyrkan.se The Church of Sweden website: www.svenskakyrkan.se
40 Years since the First Ordination of a Woman to the Priesthood
On Sunday - Palm Sunday - it is 40 years since the first women were ordained as priests in the Church of Sweden. The first ordination took place in Storkyrkan, the Cathedral of Stockholm.
"It is with great joy that I notes, 40 years after the first ordination of women to the priesthood, that about 30 percent of priests in active service in the Church of Sweden are women," Archbishop KG Hammar says and adds:
"Women have enriched the Church of Sweden by their experiences and the new forms of expressions that they have brought into the ordained ministry of the church. I am convinced that this will increase and deepen in the future."
The Archbishop has sent the following prayer to every diocese for use on Palm Sunday:
God,
We thank you for everything that women have meant for Christianity throughout the ages.
We praise you for the rich experiences and new forms of expression that women have brought to the ordained ministry of the church.
We ask for your continued blessing through all priests - women and men - and for the service they undertake for all God's people.
God, you alone know the pain that this new understanding of priesthood has brought.
We commit unto you our belligerent attitude and our lack of humility. Help us to find the way ahead.
Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done.
Amen
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