Editing Separation of church and state (section)

===Norway===
An act approved in 2016 created the [[Church of Norway]] as an independent legal entity, effective from 1 January 2017. Before 2017 all clergy were civil servants (employees of the central government).<ref>[https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/offisielt-fra-statsradet/id2501869/ Offisielt frå statsrådet 27. mai 2016] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909185939/https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/offisielt-fra-statsradet/id2501869/ |date=2017-09-09 }} regjeringen.no «Sanksjon av Stortingets vedtak 18. mai 2016 til lov om endringer i kirkeloven (omdanning av Den norske kirke til eget rettssubjekt m.m.) Lovvedtak 56 (2015–2016) Lov nr. 17 Delt ikraftsetting av lov 27. mai 2016 om endringer i kirkeloven (omdanning av Den norske kirke til eget rettssubjekt m.m.). Loven trer i kraft fra 1. januar 2017 med unntak av romertall I § 3 nr. 8 første og fjerde ledd, § 3 nr. 10 annet punktum og § 5 femte ledd, som trer i kraft 1. juli 2016.»</ref><ref>[https://stortinget.no/no/Saker-og-publikasjoner/Vedtak/Beslutninger/Lovvedtak/2015-2016/vedtak-201516-056/ Lovvedtak 56 (2015–2016) Vedtak til lov om endringer i kirkeloven (omdanning av Den norske kirke til eget rettssubjekt m.m.)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703220253/https://stortinget.no/no/Saker-og-publikasjoner/Vedtak/Beslutninger/Lovvedtak/2015-2016/vedtak-201516-056/ |date=2018-07-03 }} Stortinget.no</ref> On 21 May 2012, the [[Norwegian Parliament]] passed a [[Norwegian Constitution|constitutional]] amendment that granted the Church of Norway increased autonomy,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thelocal.no/20120521/norway-separates-church-and-state|title=Norway separates church and state|date=21 May 2012|access-date=22 March 2015|archive-date=12 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512065905/http://www.thelocal.no/page/view/norway-separates-church-and-state#.UPFSb-Q0VPE|url-status=live}}</ref> and states that "the Church of Norway, an Evangelical-Lutheran church, remains Norway's people's church, and is supported by the State as such" ("people's church" or {{Lang|no|folkekirke}} is also the name of the Danish state church, [[Folkekirken]]), replacing the earlier expression which stated that "the Evangelical-Lutheran religion remains the public religion of the State." The final amendment passed by a vote of 162–3. The three dissenting votes were all from the [[Centre Party (Norway)|Centre Party]].

The constitution also says that Norway's values are based on its Christian and humanist heritage, and according to the Constitution, the [[List of Norwegian monarchs#House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg|King]] is required to be Lutheran. The government will still provide funding for the church as it does with other faith-based institutions, but the responsibility for appointing bishops and provosts will now rest with the church instead of the government. Prior to 1997, the appointments of parish priests and residing chaplains was also the responsibility of the government, but the church was granted the right to hire such clergy directly with the new Church Law of 1997. The Church of Norway is regulated by its own law ({{Lang|no|kirkeloven}}) and all municipalities are required by law to support the activities of the Church of Norway and municipal authorities are represented in its local bodies.<ref>[[Church of Norway#Legal status|"Church of Norway"]]</ref>