History
The Catholic Church was the established church of Sweden from the Middle Ages until the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, when King Gustav I broke off relations.
He established the Church of Sweden, based on the teachings of Martin Luther.
In 1654, Christina, Queen of Sweden caused much scandal when she abdicated her throne in order to convert to Catholicism. She is buried in the Vatican.
In the 1770's, the prominent Liberal Anders Chydenius - himself a Lutheran priest - prevailed upon King Gustav III to leglaise the immigration of Catholics (as well as Jews) into Sweden. However, the Lutheran Church remained the only legal church in Sweden until the middle of the 19th century, when other churches were allowed. Even then, the Lutheran Church remained a state church until it was disestablished in 2000.
Prior to this, the Catholic Church had only existed in the form of independent congregations in Sweden, for example, the Diocese of Stockholm which was founded in 1953. The changes in 2000 made it possible to become officially registered and recognized by the government of Sweden.
Read more about this topic: Roman Catholic Church In Sweden
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Both place and time were changed, and I dwelt nearer to those parts of the universe and to those eras in history which had most attracted me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“To summarize the contentions of this paper then. Firstly, the phrase ‘the meaning of a word’ is a spurious phrase. Secondly and consequently, a re-examination is needed of phrases like the two which I discuss, ‘being a part of the meaning of’ and ‘having the same meaning.’ On these matters, dogmatists require prodding: although history indeed suggests that it may sometimes be better to let sleeping dogmatists lie.”
—J.L. (John Langshaw)
“The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)