12.05.2004
Sami People Support Autonomy within Church of Sweden
Sami Council to Clarify Possible ConsequencesSTOCKHOLM, Sweden/GENEVA, 12 May 2004 (LWI) – The Sami people in Sweden have spoken out in favor of having their own congregational structure within the Church of Sweden but not linked to geographical borders. The Sami parliament has brought this concern before the church council, according to a report in the Swedish church paper Kyrkans Tidning.
“A congregational structure of our own would give us greater independence. It would mean, for example, that we could finance our activities ourselves,” said Birger Nilsson, a member of the Samelandsparti in the Sami parliament. The Sami parliament is their highest decision-making body. Last autumn it voted unanimously in favor of Nilsson’s proposal to create a single Sami congregational structure which transcended parish boundaries. There are an estimated 17,000 members of the indigenous Sami people in Sweden.
According to the Sami parliament, a distinct congregation for the Sami would give them the possibility of appointing their own pastors and other church workers. They would have their own premises, could promote the Sami liturgy and provide better pastoral care.
Up to about ten years ago, the Sami had their own pastoral district within the Church of Sweden. “After that was dissolved, it became increasingly difficult to conduct services in the Sami language and to provide pastoral care in that language,” explained Nilsson. The creation of special pastoral posts for work with the Sami in the dioceses of Härnösand and Luleå did not work out as planned as there is currently no pastor in Härnösand for the Sami congregation.
“For us it is unnatural to belong to two different dioceses. But with our own congregational structure, all the Sami in Sweden could be united under one roof. For this reason we would also like our congregation to be linked with the archdiocese, which is nation-wide,” stated Nilsson.
The Sami Council of the Church of Sweden has not yet responded to this plan. It wishes first to examine the possible consequences of the proposal in detail. “I understand the need of the Sami but I’m somewhat skeptical,” said the council’s spokesperson, Johannes Marainen. “The Sami are naturally members of their home congregations. But what if they suddenly found themselves in another position? That would have consequences, not least for their own identity.” According to Marainen, a better solution would be to establish one or two main pastoral districts for the Sami.
There are currently five non-territorial congregations within the Church of Sweden. Their continuation was affirmed after a 2000 discussion, also linked to the new church constitution. More than 80 percent of the Swedish population belongs to the 7.1-million member church, the largest of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member churches.
During the LWF Tenth Assembly, July 2003 in Winnipeg, Canada, Indigenous Peoples for the first time in the history of the LWF had meetings in which they shared their concerns and need to stand together in addressing common issues. Representatives of Indigenous Peoples from Bangladesh, Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Greenland, Honduras, India, Papua New Guinea, Norway and Sweden formulated the issues that confront them in a message that was presented to the Assembly. The Assembly in its Message acknowledged that the Indigenous Peoples feel powerless and voiceless regarding self-determination, access to education, health care and job opportunities.
There are over 300 million Indigenous Peoples worldwide, representing 4,000-5,000 of the 6,000 languages spoken all over the world. While they are an essential part of the cultural diversity of the human family, Indigenous Peoples also represent the most threatened cultures globally, and in most cases the poorest, most marginalized and most discriminated-against populations.
The Assembly in its message declared land rights as fundamental to the survival of Indigenous Peoples and their cultures, and called on LWF member churches to continue to recognize and support the basic human rights of Indigenous Peoples worldwide. The churches were also urged to acknowledge and seek the presence of Indigenous Peoples, affirm them as equal partners, and challenge paternalistic patterns that keep them out of participation in life and decision-making. (681 words)
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