Svenska kyrkan stopped proposal to terminate Expo collaboration

The so-called Church of Sweden’s Church Assembly rejected a motion on Tuesday to terminate the collaboration with Expo. Only 23 of the Church Assembly’s members wanted to terminate the collaboration with the left-wing extremist organization.

This week, the Church of Sweden’s Church Assembly is gathering in Uppsala to decide on a wide range of church political issues. Climate, the environment, and the Church of Sweden’s management of its forests are important issues on the agenda.

Rejection of anti-Expo motion

One of the 129 motions submitted to the Church Assembly comes from Alternative for Sweden (AfS). The motion, written by AfS profile Lennart Matikainen, is about terminating the collaboration with Expo.

When the motion is brought up for debate on Monday, it is met with laughter from the members.

– Maybe not so fun, says the Church Assembly’s chairman Karin Perers (C).

The reason is that Perers had hoped to discuss a topic that she finds ‘lovely’, something that she apparently does not think the motion is.

The motion to terminate the collaboration with Expo is voted down the following day, on Tuesday, with 219 votes against the motion and 23 votes in favor. Three members abstain and three do not vote at all.

The chair of the relevant committee, Sofia Rosenquist (POSK), argues during the previous debate that there is no collaboration with Expo at the national level that can be terminated.

Marie Axelsson Ahl (AfS) believes, however, that the Church of Sweden still has the opportunity to take a stand on the issue and act as a guide for the dioceses. She is supported by the Sweden Democrat Petter Nilsson, who draws parallels between Expo and Afa during the debate.

More rejected motions

Another motion that the Church Assembly has rejected during the week is one from the Sweden Democrats to ‘establish an action plan against Christophobic hate crimes’. The background is the vandalism of churches and churchyards, and other anti-Christian acts.

– The Church of Sweden must show that they do not differentiate between which hate crimes are worth highlighting, says SD representative Daniel Engström during the debate.

Engström is countered by Left Party representative Lina Ahl.

– Christians are not a particularly vulnerable group in Sweden! she argues.

Frimodig kyrka (Bold Church) also presents a motion to repeal the Church of Sweden’s so-called core values. The nominating group does not want any other core values than ‘reference to the Bible and the gospel of Jesus Christ’, as stated in the motion.

Another proposal that the Church Assembly’s members reject.