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PRESS RELEASE |
Uppsala |
New Church Order on the way
Today, Thursday, the Church of Sweden Central Board took a decision to send a proposal for a new Church Order for the Church of Sweden to the 1999 Church Assembly It is intended that the Church Order should come into force on 1st of January 2000, when relations between the Church of Sweden and the state will be changed. It will then replace most of the legislation on the Church of Sweden, and in particular the Law about the Church of Sweden from 1992. The basic organisational structure of the Church will still be expressed in a short Law about the Church of Sweden.
“Today's decision is yet another step towards the new relation between the Church of Sweden and the state, which among other things means that the church will come closer to the present reality, including the people of today”, Archbishop KG Hammar, says, adding:
“I hope and believe that the Church of Sweden will remain "the open church" even in the future. A church that is open and active among people everywhere, right across Sweden, which keeps its doors open and available for the visitor, and which is also a spiritually open church."
The basis for the proposal from the Central Board is six reports from a two year long work of investigation and a very extensive material of answers to enquiries, given in more than 2 850 replies. The Church Assembly will take the final decision on the Church Order later on, at the beginning of the summer.
The Church Order will contain regulations about the structures and the work of the Church of Sweden. A wide spectrum of issues will be featured, particularly concerning the confession of the church and its order of services as well as procedures for elections and regulations on financial matters.
Current legislation is largely being transferred to the new Church Order. That is a mark of the intention that the Church of Sweden should remain the same church even though its established status ceases. It should be an open national church, democratically organised and, through its parochial structure, it should cover the entire country. Those who belong to the Church of Sweden when the changing of relations take place will remain members even after 1st January 2000.
The proposal divides the Church Order into 13 different parts with altogether 58 chapters.
According to the proposal, the members of the Church Assembly - the highest decision-making body of the church - should be appointed through direct elections on the day appointed for church elections: the third Sunday of September in years preceding general elections. The first time everyone who belongs to the church will be able to elect the Church Assembly will, in other words, occur in the year 2001.
Among the issues which received the greatest attention when the proposal from the investigating committee was presented in March 1998 was the suggestion that the voting age should be lowered from 18 to 16. That part of the proposal has met the most opposition during the rounds of debate. The Central Board therefore proposes that the voting age of 18 should be retained.
The civil servant status for priests will cease and priests will be locally employed. Priests will however be accountable to their bishop and the 'domkapitel' (legally appointed diocesan body) for their ministry and way of life, following their ordination promises. The 'domkapitel' shall make a statement before anyone is employed as a priest, and the parishes will have no power to exert any disciplinary measures against the priests on issues concerning the teaching of the church or on other matters which fall under the remit of the 'domkapitel'
The pastoral duty for priests to keep under absolute seal anything that is said during the administration of sacramental confession and absolution, or during similar private pastoral conversations, will continue. Regulations on these matters are included in the Church Order. Additionally, there is legislation incorporated into the law about trial before a court, prohibiting the court to call a priest as witness on matters of this kind.
The Church of Sweden Central Board will take over appointment of bishops from the government. Current practice of appointing one of the three candidates that have gained most of the votes in diocesan elections will continue.
The decision by the Church Assembly on the new Church Order will mark the end of the period of extensive investigations which has taken place both by civil and ecclesiastical authorities since the decision to disestablish the church was taken in principle by the Riksdag (parliament) in December 1995. In December 1998 the Riksdag took the decision to alter the constitution of the country, and at the same time accepted a short law about the Church of Sweden and other Denominations. It is expected that the Government will take decisions later this March on regulations concerning the provision of funerals and the maintenance of cemeteries; official help from the state for the church to collect its membership fees; and on the maintenance of culturally valuable ecclesiastical heritage sites.
When the Church Assembly has taken its decisions, extensive information- campaigns and training programs will be provided during the autumn of 1999, in order that the new relations between the church and the state, and the inauguration of the new Church Order, will run as smoothly as possible.
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