“New ways for the Gospel”

She was installed as Archbishop of Uppsala and primate of the Church of Sweden on Sunday, June 15th, greeted by a long applause in the cathedral of Uppsala. Antje Jackelén, born in Germany in 1955 and ordained in the Lutheran Church in 1980, is the first woman to assume this role in Sweden, 70th in the register of the archbishops. She was elected last October. Married, mother and grandmother, her episcopal motto is: “God is greater”. Convinced ecumenist and player in interreligious dialogue in Sweden, she is a member of the council of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Sarah Numico asked her a few questions for Sir Europe. What changes can bring about the fact that women are getting “empowered” also in the churches? “I was overwhelmed by the positive reactions to my election as archbishop: both women and men found it encouraging. In all areas of life gender equality is positive. The interaction between men and women and the fact that they complement each other are the most important things. Women in leading positions bring back the perspective of all those who have not been admitted in the position of power as well as the perspective of women’s specific life experiences”. What does it mean preaching and living the Gospel in Sweden today? “Sweden introduced the freedom of religion in 1951. But it was conceived as the freedom from religions. This still permeates the Swedish society, very keen on being neutral, as it were a virtue. But there is an increasing interest in religion as a central question. Pastors notice that years ago when they met young parents for the baptism of their babies, the questions raised were: where do we sit, can we take pictures…? But now the questions are: what does this prayer actually mean? We are in a situation where the knowledge of the Christian tradition is very low. There are very few homes where the parents can teach the children how to pray or the biblical narrative. So the challenge is to find new ways for sharing faith and the knowledge about it. Do you have “priorities” as archbishop? “My first priority is worship life: be a church that shows, radiates with joy in our worship life. If you stop celebrating the Mass you stop being a church. The second point is to strengthen the diaconal work, so that prayer and work be one. As said before: Christian education for all ages, sharing the knowledge of faith and life. Being a church in dialogue is the fourth priority: ecumenical dialogue, but also interfaith dialogue, very important in our days, with society, politics, science, culture at large”. What contribution can your church give to the ecumenical journey? “We have been reckoned as a church that hosts ecumenical meetings, thinking back to Nathan Söderblom, who became archbishop of the Church of Sweden hundred years ago. He organized the “Life and work” Christian conference in Stockholm in 1925, which was very important for what happened later. This spring we celebrated the 25th anniversary of John Paul II’s visit to the Nordic countries which was very much in the spirit of ecumenism. We remembered it with an ecumenical vesper in the Lund cathedral with 15 Catholic and Lutheran bishops and a dialogue between cardinal Kurt Koch and myself about the role of religion in society. Moreover, Swedish reformation came a bit ‘from above’ and we moved from Catholicism to Lutheranism, but we still see many similarities with the Catholic church and we feel ourselves as a “bridge church”. What meaning does the celebration of the 500° anniversary of the reformation have for Christianity? The topic chosen for the celebration by the LWF is “Liberated by God’s grace”, with the subtitles “Salvation – not for sale, Human being – not for sale, Creation – not for sale”. These issues link back to the tradition of the Reformation, but also are very up-to date. The anniversary will be celebrating a reformation which is still on-going and it will be ecumenical. I hope that the 2017 celebrations may be a step forth for the whole Christianity. How does Europe looks like, seen from Sweden? We are seeing increasing polarizations in our societies, not only on the economical level. Polarizations now apply also to education, health, politics and even theology (with a stronger divergence between the ‘conservatives’ and the ‘liberals’). This general trend is a challenge for democracy. We have thought that people with a decent level of welfare, education, wealth would automatically become democratic, tolerant, cooperative. But democracy needs to be maintained, constantly nourished with values. The catholic church is preparing a Synod about the family: do you have expectations? My expectation would be that the synod takes into account the reality of the different constellations of family we see in our time. I also would hope some good words on the role of family in church and society. In Sweden, for example, all the legal system is organized around the state and the individual. But what is the role of family then for society? The individual needs to be seen also as part of a family. Will you meet pope Francis? I hope so! It is in the tradition that the new archbishops make some visits including the one to the pope. What will you say to him? I would definitely want to listen to him and learning something from his experience as a church leader.