Editing Church of Sweden (section)

== History ==

=== Middle Ages ===
{{See also|History of Sweden (800–1521)}}
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; clear:right; margin:0.5em 0 0.5em 1em;"
|+ Church of Sweden statistics<ref name="svenskakyrkan-statistics" /><ref name="svenskakyrkan 1972-2018">[https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/filer/0d0ce00b-73c7-4a68-bf1e-cc8d9db5b260.pdf PDFMedlemmar i Svenska kyrkan i förhållande till folkmängd 31 december 2020 per församling, kommun och län samt riket] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421205705/https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/filer/0d0ce00b-73c7-4a68-bf1e-cc8d9db5b260.pdf |date=21 April 2021 }} Svenska kyrkan</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Medlemsutveckling 2020–2021, per församling, pastorat och stift samt riket |url=https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/filer/1374643/MedlemsutvecklingSKP(1).pdf?id=2398410 |access-date=21 September 2022 |website=www.svenskakyrkan.se |language=sv |archive-date=6 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706222718/https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/filer/1374643/MedlemsutvecklingSKP(1).pdf?id=2398410 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
! Year
! Population
! Church members
! Percentage
! % change (avg.)
|-
| 1972 || 8,146,000 || 7,754,784 || 95.2% ||
|-
| 1975 || 8,208,000 || 7,770,881 || 94.7% || 0.2%{{increase}}
|-
| 1980 || 8,278,000 || 7,690,636 || 92.9% || 0.3% {{decrease}}
|-
| 1985 || 8,358,000 || 7,629,763 || 91.5% || 0.3% {{decrease}}
|-
| 1990 || 8,573,000 || 7,630,350 || 89.0% || 0.5% {{decrease}}
|-
| 1995 || 8,837,000 || 7,601,194 || 86.0% || 0.6% {{decrease}}
|-
| 2000 || 8,880,000 || 7,360,825 || 82.9% || 0.6% {{decrease}}
|-
| 2005 || 9,048,000 || 6,967,498 || 77.0% || 1.2% {{decrease}}
|-
| 2010 || 9,415,570 || 6,589,769 || 70.0% || 1.4% {{decrease}}
|-
| 2015 || 9,850,452 || 6,225,091 || 63.2% || 1.4% {{decrease}}
|-
| 2020 || 10,379,295 || 5,728,746 || 55.2% || 1.6% {{decrease}}

|-
| 2021 || 10,452,326 || 5,633,867 || 53.9% || 1.3% {{decrease}}
|-
| 2022 || 10,536,649 || 5,563,351 || 52.8% || 1.1% {{decrease}}
|-
| '''2023''' ||  || '''5 484 319''' || '''52.1%''' || '''0.8%''' {{decrease}}
|}
While some Swedish areas had Christian minorities in the 9th century, Sweden was, because of its geographical location in northernmost [[Europe]], not [[Christianization|Christianized]] until around AD 1000, around the same time as the other [[Nordic countries]], when the Swedish King [[Olof Skötkonung|Olof]] was baptized. This left only a modest gap between the Christianization of Scandinavia and the [[East-West Schism|Great Schism]], however there are some Scandinavian/Swedish saints who are venerated eagerly by many [[Orthodoxy#Christianity|Orthodox Christian]]s, such as [[Olaf II of Norway|St. Olaf]]. However, [[Norse paganism]] and other pre-Christian religious systems survived in the territory of what is now Sweden later than that; for instance the important religious center known as the [[Temple at Uppsala]] at [[Gamla Uppsala]] was evidently still in use in the late 11th century, while there was little effort to introduce the [[Sámi people|Sámi]] of [[Lapland, Sweden|Lapland]] to Christianity until considerably after that.

The Christian church in Scandinavia was originally governed by the [[archdiocese of Bremen]]. In 1104, an archbishop for all Scandinavia was installed in [[Diocese of Lund|Lund]]. Uppsala was made [[Archbishop of Uppsala|Sweden's archdiocese]] in 1164, and remains so today. The papal diplomat [[William of Modena]] attended a church meeting in [[Skänninge]] in March 1248, where the ties to the Catholic Church were strengthened.

The most cherished national Catholic [[saint]]s were the 12th-century King [[Eric IX of Sweden|Eric the Saint]] and the 14th-century [[visionary]] [[Bridget of Sweden|Bridget]], but other regional heroes also had a local cult following, including [[Saint Botvid]] and [[Saint Eskil]] in [[Södermanland]], Saint [[Helena of Skövde]],<ref>[http://saints.sqpn.com/sainth13.htm Saint Helen of Skofde] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014043258/http://saints.sqpn.com/sainth13.htm |date=14 October 2008 }} Patron Saints Index</ref> and Saint [[Sigfrid of Sweden|Sigfrid]] in [[Småland]]. In their names, [[miracle]]s were performed and churches were named.

=== Reformation ===
Shortly after seizing power in 1523, [[Gustav Vasa]] addressed the [[Pope]] in Rome with a request for the confirmation of [[Johannes Magnus]] as [[Archbishop of Sweden]], in the place of [[Gustav Trolle]] who had been formally deposed and exiled by the [[Riksdag of the Estates]].

Gustav promised to be an obedient son of the Church, if the pope would confirm the elections of his bishops. But the pope requested Trolle to be re-instated. King Gustav protested by promoting the Swedish reformers, the brothers [[Olaus Petri|Olaus]] and [[Laurentius Petri]], and [[Laurentius Andreae]]. The king supported the printing of reformation texts, with the Petri brothers as the major instructors on the texts. In 1526, all Catholic printing presses were suppressed, and two-thirds of the Church's [[tithe]]s were appropriated for the payment of the national debt. A final breach was made with the traditions of the old religion at the [[Riksdag]] called by the king at [[Västerås]] in 1544.<ref name=EB1911>[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] Eleventh Edition, article ''Sweden''</ref>

Other changes of the Reformation included the abolition of some Catholic rituals. However, the changes were not as drastic as in [[Germany]]; as in Germany, Swedish churches kept not only [[Christian cross|crosses]] and [[crucifix]]es, but also icons and the traditional liturgical vestments which in Germany were usually discarded in favor of the black [[Geneva gown|preaching gown]] and [[Stole (vestment)|stole]] used until recent times. Many holy days, based on [[Saints days|saints' days]], were not removed from the calendar until the late 18th century due to strong resistance from the population.

After the death of Gustav Vasa, Sweden was ruled by [[John III of Sweden|John III]], who had Catholicizing tendencies, and then by his more openly Catholic son, [[Sigismund III Vasa|Sigismund]], who was also ruler of Catholic [[Poland]]. The latter was eventually deposed from the Swedish throne by his uncle, who acceded to the throne as [[Charles IX of Sweden|Charles IX]], and used the Lutheran church as an instrument in his power struggle against his nephew. He is known to have had [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] leanings.

The New Testament was translated into Swedish in 1526 and the entire Bible in 1541. Revised translations were published in 1618 and 1703. New official translations were adopted in 1917 and 2000. Many hymns were written by Swedish church reformers and several by [[Martin Luther]] were translated. A semi-official hymnal appeared in the 1640s. Official hymnals of the Church of Sweden ({{langx|sv|Den svenska psalmboken}}) were adopted in 1695, [[Den svenska psalmboken (1819)|1819]], 1937 and [[Den svenska psalmboken (1986)|1986]]. The last of these is [[Ecumenism|ecumenical]], and combines traditional hymns with songs from other Christian denominations, including [[Seventh-day Adventist Church|Seventh-day Adventist]], Baptist, Catholic, [[Mission Covenant Church of Sweden|Mission Covenant]], Methodist, Pentecostal, and the [[Salvation Army]]. In October 2013, the Church of Sweden elected [[Antje Jackelén]] as Sweden's first female archbishop.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/sweden-elects-its-first-female-archbishop-the-german-born-bishop-of-lund/|title=Sweden elects its first female archbishop, the German-born bishop of Lund – Fox News|date=15 October 2013|publisher=[[Fox News Channel]]|access-date=15 October 2013|archive-date=18 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018071728/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/10/15/sweden-elects-its-first-female-archbishop-german-born-bishop-lund/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Emigration aspects ===
In the 1800s–1900s, the Church of Sweden supported the Swedish government by opposing both emigration and preachers' efforts recommending sobriety ([[alcoholic beverage]]s are sold in Sweden by a government monopoly). This escalated to a point where its ministers were even persecuted by the church for preaching sobriety, and the reactions of many congregation members to that contributed to the desire to leave the country (which, however, was against the law until 1840).<ref>''Vår svenska stam på utländsk mark; Svenska öden och insatser i främmande land; I västerled, Amerikas förenta stater och Kanada'', Ed. [[Axel Boëthius]], Stockholm 1952, Volume I, pp. 92, 137, 273 & 276; for the whole section</ref>

=== Lutheran orthodoxy ===
{{Main|Lutheran orthodoxy}}

=== Coat of arms ===
[[File:Svenska kyrkan vapen.svg|thumb|upright|Coat of arms of the Church of Sweden]]
[[File:Luth-Uppsala-Arms.png|thumb|upright|Coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Uppsala]]
The 19th century coat of arms is based on that of the [[Archdiocese of Uppsala]]. It is blazoned ''Or on a cross Gules an open crown of the field'' and thus features a gold/yellow field with a red cross on which there is a gold/yellow crown.<ref>Gold is represented as yellow in non-metallic representations of coats of arms.</ref> The crown is called the victory crown of [[Christ]], based on the royal crowns used in [[medieval]] times and corresponds in form to the crowns in the [[Swedish coat of arms]] and to that resting on the head of Saint Eric in the coat of arms of [[Stockholm]].