-
Source: ONE News
Sweden's Lutheran church decided to conduct gay weddings in the
Nordic country from next month.
"We are the first major church to do this," said Kristina Grenholm,
the church's director of theology.
The decision came after the Swedish parliament earlier this year
passed legislation allowing homosexuals to legally marry, changing
a previous law permitting legal unions but not formal
marriage.
"For my part, the right decision was taken, but I can empathise
with the many who believe this has gone too fast," Archbishop of
Sweden Anders Wejryd told a news conference.
The church said in a statement it would begin wedding same-sex
couples on November 1.
Sweden's Lutheran church, which split from the state in 2000 but
remains the country's largest religious community, had previously
said it was open to registering same-sex unions but wanted to
reserve the term matrimony for heterosexual marriages.
The new legislation, which came into force on May 1, eliminated
legal distinctions between heterosexual and homosexual spouses, but
does not force dissenting clergy to wed gay couples.
A church official said individual priests would still not be
required to perform gay marriages.
However, local churches would have to ensure that they could wed
same-sex couples, if necessary bringing in an outside priest to
perform the ceremony.
Some within the church have opposed introducing gay marriage,
saying it contravenes scripture.
Half of Swedish couples get married in church, though regular church attendance is very low.
