Schwedentum, Katholizismus und europäische Integration: Die katholische Kirche in Schweden nach 1945

Abstract

The position of the Catholic Church in Sweden has radically changed in the last forty years. At the beginning of the 1960s, the Catholicism was commonly regarded as a threat to Swedish cultural identity, not least among members of the ruling Social-Democratic Party. Today, the Catholic Church is an accepted part of Swedish society. This article discuss this process of change and its impact on Swedish attitudes towards European integration from 1945 up to the present time. Special attention is paid to ecumenical relations, the Swedish Catholic Church’s engagement in European Catholic co-operation, and its relationship with the Swedish State. A hypothesis is that the integration of the local Catholic Church into Swedish society can be seen as an important precondition for the development of a more positive Swedish attitude towards European integration.