Duty Priest service increases counselling availability

The Duty Priest service is being reinforced with more priests at night in order to meet the growing concerns surrounding the coronavirus. It is a service that, in this day and age, should not be cancelled but expanded.

“A lot of people are calling in these days. We receive around 200 more calls per day, and clearly notice that the general level of concern in society has increased,” says Nina Sagovinter, priest and the Church of Sweden's national coordinator for the Duty Priest service and institutional care.

Sweden has had a common emergency number since 1956, and the Duty Priest service has existed for just as long.

"The emergency number 112 is most associated with accidents, acute illness or police events, but it is also open to people in crisis via the priest on call," says Gunnar Bergström at SOS Alarm.

"In everyday life, but especially in times of crisis, people's anxiety grows. At SOS Alarm, we are extremely proud to be able to deepen cooperation with the Church of Sweden and meet the needs of individuals during the coronavirus crisis.”

Contacts via the Duty Priests’ chat, where many young people get in touch, have also increased recently. The service has been strengthened with more priests during regular opening hours – Sunday to Thursday between 20:00 and 24:00 – and is now open at the same times on Fridays and Saturdays as well.

“Our Duty Priests take people's concerns very seriously, and can help through counselling. It is our duty as a church to share the burden of unease, anxiety and questions about life and death, both when the crisis affects society as a whole and when it is personal,” says Nina Sagovinter.

Contact
Church of Sweden: press service 018-16 94 75 or Press Officer Ewa Almqvist, +46 705-469677.
SOS Alarm: press service, 08-205 307, press@sosalarm.se

FACTS
The Duty Priest service can be reached free of charge at 112, digital letter or chat. You are completely anonymous in contact with the priest, who is also anonymous and bound by confidentiality. Nothing said or written between the two of you can be passed on. Nothing is saved.

The Duty Priest service has been in place for over 60 years, staffed by priests from the Church of Sweden.

Sweden-Finnish ad hotline Palveleva puhelin: Calls are free of charge. You can be completely anonymous, you can speak Finnish and you decide the topic of conversation. Employees are bound by professional secrecy.
The Church of Sweden's Swedish-Finnish hotline has been in place since 1989.

SOS Alarm has a unique business. We know how Sweden is doing, in real time. 24 hours a day, all year round, we handle alarms and provide relief resources in the event of accidents, crises and disturbances in society. Together with many others, we create a safer Sweden for everyone, today and in the future.