Next week, the Synod of the Church of Sweden is to vote on a motion that sparked intense debate among believers. The main question is: should priests who object to sealing a same-sex marriage be stripped from their authority?
In Sweden, priests have the authority to seal marriages as official registrars. Thus, the union they seal is valid in Church and civilly. The motion proposes that the Church of Sweden classifies conscientious objections against sealing same-sex marriage in the Church as discrimination.
As a consequence of that, priests who do not want to bless a same-sex marriage in Church should lose their priesthood, the motion reads, according to Kyrkans Tidning, the Church’s bulletin.
The motion was put forward by the Social Democrat leader Jesper Enerot. He wants the Synod to fire any priest who “discriminates against someone because of their gender, age, ethnicity or sexual orientation.”