Religion: Look at Sweden

In Sweden, as in all Scandinavian countries, religious liberty has developed only gradually since Lutheranism became supreme in the 16th Century; until a law was passed in 1860 recognizing dissident churches, any attempt to get a Lutheran to change his confession was a penal offense, and apostasy from the state church made a Swede liable to banishment for life. Since 1860 much progress has been made, but it has been slow.

Whenever Roman Catholics take a public drubbing for their policy in Spain, they can retort, as the Jesuit weekly America did last spring: “Let us look at Sweden. It has an established Lutheran church, apparently unaware (like England) of the ‘great Protestant principle’ of separation of church and state. Without special permission of the Swedish government, the Catholic Church can own no property in Sweden, as Protestants can do in Spain … Do American Catholics, or indeed, Swedish Catholics (5,809 in a population of 6,000,000) shout about Lutheran ‘persecution’ of Catholics in Sweden?”

To this argument Protestants have their answer. Replied the weekly Christian Century to America: “The restrictions upon Protestants in Spain are much more drastic and far-reaching than the restrictions upon Roman Catholics in Sweden. But,” the Century added thoughtfully, “it is well that the similarities, as far as they go, should be cited … A vestige of … medieval theory and practice remains . . . [weaving] a shoddy strand into the fabric of the Protestant argument for religious liberty.”

With the recent publication of a 390-page report on religious freedom, written by a six-man “Dissenter Law Committee” after five years of hearings and deliberations, Sweden has now made a move in the direction of greater religious freedom. The committee’s recommendations, due for careful study before introduction into Parliament next spring, contain six major points:

¶Any Swede would be free to leave the Lutheran Church without joining any other Christian community (he is now required to join another Christian church). ¶All non-Lutheran pastors would be allowed to officiate at weddings (only Lutherans, Methodists, Jews and Roman Catholics may now do so). ¶Permission to establish Catholic convents and monasteries in Sweden, denied since 1595, would once again be granted. ¶Teachers of all Christian denominations would be allowed to teach in all school levels (non-Lutherans are now barred from teaching in elementary schools). ¶Non-Lutherans would have to pay only one-half of their present national church tax (under the present law, most Swedes must contribute about 1% of their income to help support the state church). ¶Nonmembers of the state church, currently barred from all cabinet posts, would be eligible for any cabinet posts except those dealing with education and religion.

Non-Lutherans gave the report a restrained welcome. Last week Eric Ruden, general secretary of Sweden’s Baptist Union (40,000 members), said: “The most important question . . . abolition of the state church, has not been touched. This is a step forward . . . but we want religious freedom as in the United States …”