Välkommen till Via TT - det enkla pressverktyget

26 December is the 20th anniversary of the tsunami in South-East Asia that took many lives and affected us all. At the initiative of the King and Queen, a national memorial service will be held in Uppsala Cathedral and it will be broadcast live on Swedish Television.

The Church of Sweden’s approach to forestry needs to change to deal with the climate emergency and the threat to biodiversity. This serious situation places special demands on a church that manages natural resources, according to the Church of Sweden’s forestry inquiry.

Almost a year ago, Archbishop Antje Jackelén made an official apology from the Church of Sweden to the Sámi people in Uppsala Cathedral. The apology will be made once again on 23 October, this time in Luleå Cathedral.

The 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, held in Karlsruhe, Germany, ended today. Four thousand participants from around the world gathered for nine intense days of prayer, worship and decision-making on the direction of the churches’ work over the coming years.

Bishop Martin Modéus received 59% of the votes in today’s Archbishop election. He will thus become the new Archbishop of the Church of Sweden, succeeding Antje Jackelén, who retires on 30 October. Martin Modéus will be received as the new Archbishop on 4 December.

Bishop Martin Modéus, Linköping, received the most votes in today’s election to Archbishop of the Church of Sweden. In second place was Bishop Johan Dalman, Strängnäs. As neither of them received more than 50% of the votes, a second round between the two of them will be held on 8 June.

On 22 April, all candidates standing in the Archbishop election will be interviewed at a hearing in Lötenkyrkan in Uppsala. The hearing will also be broadcast live.

We now have the preliminary results of the nomination election ahead of the Archbishop election. Bishop Martin Modéus received the most votes, followed by Bishop Johan Dalman and Bishop Mikael Mogren. The process will now continue with a hearing of the candidates on 22 April.

On 20–24 February, people from all over Europe will gather for an interfaith digital meeting, A Week of Neighbours, invited by Archbishop Antje Jackelén. The focus is on refugees, migration and a Europe characterised by humanity and social cohesion.

Archbishop Antje Jackelén is retiring in autumn 2022. At a service on Sunday 30 October, she will lay down the staff and cross, which will be passed on to the next archbishop.

During the special service of worship concluding the General Synod on 24 November, Archbishop Antje Jackelén will make an official apology from the Church of Sweden to the Sami for historical abuse.

The Church of Sweden's pastoral welfare, or ‘diaconal’, work in society has an economic value of at least SEK 1.5 billion. This is the finding of a new report, which provides the most comprehensive analysis ever of the Church of Sweden's pastoral welfare activity.

During this spring’s pandemic, the mood among Swedes has clearly deteriorated, according to a new survey from Kantar Sifo commissioned by the Church of Sweden. Feelings such as anxiety and loneliness have increased, while joy has diminished. It is also clear that younger people feel more lonely, anxious and depressed than older people – but summer creates feelings of hope.

Ahead of the UN’s general review of Sweden’s compliance with human rights requirements, the Church of Sweden and the Christian Council of Sweden presented a parallel report with a number of recommendations. The government recently approved several of these recommendations regarding, for example, repatriation of Sámi human remains. However, they rejected the recommendation of additional protection for the right of asylum seekers to leave their religion or convert.

Get married in Meänkieli, be baptised in Southern Sami or be confirmed in Finnish - from Whit Sunday, 31 May, you can do any of this anywhere in the Church of Sweden. The Church’s Book of Worship, translated into Sweden’s five minority languages - Finnish, Meänkieli, Northern Sami, Lule Sami and Southern Sami - is used.

During Holy Week, the Church of Sweden will webcast seven services from Uppsala Cathedral. There will be a service every day from Monday 6 April.

On 27-30 January, around 70 people from 15 European countries will gather for a meeting in Malmö on one of the major contemporary and future issues of our time, migration. The meeting is part of the programme A World of Neighbours, initiated by Archbishop Antje Jackelén. The aim is to create an interreligious European network for practitioners working with refugees and migrants, in order to promote social sustainability.

This weekend, Archbishop Antje Jackelén will travel to South America to visit the Lutheran churches in Brazil (IECLB) and Colombia (IELCO). She is invited as the main speaker at a national priests’ and deacons’ meeting in the city of Curitiba, in Brazil. In Colombia, which is currently in the midst of a complex and fragile peace process, the archbishop will hold talks with various stakeholders about the importance of continuing the peace process and allowing transitional justice to be observed.

The focus country for the 2020 Göteborg Book Fair is South Africa. It is a choice that is welcomed by the Church of Sweden, which is the Book Fair’s largest partner. “It is with pleasure and inspiration that we are starting the work arranging next year’s programme, which will be characterised by the Church of Sweden’s longstanding involvement in South Africa,” says Archbishop Antje Jackelén.

Next week, the Church of Sweden and Uppsala University will hold a seminar entitled “Sámi human remains – historical perspectives, current debates and ways forward”. It will raise, among other things, the issue of the return of Sámi remains that are kept in anatomical collections at various institutes in Sweden.