Church of Sweden Refuses to Collect Money for Persecuted Christians

STOCKHOLM - Christians are being persecuted for their faith across much of the world, but the Church of Sweden does not want to raise money for the organisation that helps them. A committee of the church's national synod is recommending that two motions on support for persecuted Christians be rejected - and instead questions how the charity Open Doors counts the persecution.

A second committee is saying no to a proposal that the church mark Sweden's National Day with services and prayers for the country.

The first motion, from Mats Johnsson of the Sweden Democrats' church group, asks that Act Church of Sweden, the church's international aid arm, do more to support persecuted Christians and other persecuted religious minorities.

The second, from Nils Arne Kastberg and several other synod members, asks the church board to hold an annual nationwide collection for Open Doors, taken up at services in every parish in the country. Open Doors works for persecuted Christians in around 70 countries and publishes the World Watch List each year, ranking the 50 countries where it is hardest to be a Christian.

The ecumenical committee, chaired by Social Democrat Ulf Bjereld, wants both motions voted down. In its report, the committee says the church already does extensive work for persecuted Christians and for vulnerable people regardless of faith. It quotes former Archbishop Antje Jackelén: "We help people not because they are Christians, but because we are Christians."

On the collection, the committee notes that it is the church board, not the synod, that decides on nationwide collections - and that these usually go to the church's own organisations or bodies it belongs to, such as the World Council of Churches.

Church takes aim at the charity

Much of the report is spent criticising Open Doors itself. The committee complains that the organisation lists groups campaigning for LGBTQ rights and abortion rights among those who persecute Christians.

It also objects that the list only counts violence against Christians in conflicts where several groups are attacking each other. A "one-sided focus on one minority" carries risks, the committee writes, since persecution could then be seen as the concern of a chosen group rather than a human rights issue - and could in the long run increase hostility toward the very Christian minorities in question.

Two members dissented. Johan Hjertén backed the Open Doors collection, while Maria Sandström of the Sweden Democrats backed both motions, arguing that the church has a special responsibility to stand with Christians persecuted for their faith.

The synod has said no before. In 2013 it rejected a motion on active support for discriminated Christians, and in 2022 a proposal for a dedicated focus area on persecuted Christians failed.

No to National Day either

In a separate report, the worship committee rejects a motion from Anna Sundberg, deputy group leader for the Sweden Democrats in the synod, asking the church to give Sweden's National Day on June 6 a clearer place in its worship life, with national support for services and prayers for Sweden.

The committee, led by Lisa Tegby, wants all three points rejected. Not a single member dissented. The day is "a national celebration, not a church holiday", it writes. Similar motions were voted down in 1999, 2005 and 2006 - and in 2006 the committee instead praised inviting representatives of other religions to National Day celebrations, as a way to make Sweden's religious diversity visible.

None of the proposals is final yet. The synod makes its decisions when it meets in Uppsala on November 16-18.