Cardinal Anders Arborelius, bishop of Stockholm since 1998, took part in the Jubilee Pilgrimage to Rome in early February 2025, which brought together 1,200 Catholics from the northern European countries of Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland.
He spoke about the astonishing revival of the Catholic Church in this Protestant-majority region of Europe, where Catholicism remains a minority but is growing significantly.
The 75-year-old polyglot Carmelite cleric, whose diocese covers the whole of Sweden, underlines the appeal of the Catholic Church in a society in search of its bearings. He also looks back at the challenge of migration, and ecumenism with the Lutheran Church.
Catholicism: A growing minority in Sweden
Eight years ago, you became the first cardinal in the history of Sweden and, more broadly, in the history of Scandinavia. Does your growing minority Catholic community foreshadow the future face of the Church in Europe?
Cardinal Anders Arborelius: It is indeed a sign of the current situation of the Church in many European countries. In some parts of the continent, the Church is becoming smaller, and at the same time more international. In Sweden, the Catholic Church is on the rise. It remains a small minority, but is developing in a context that could be described as “post-Lutheran,” which is more open than before to religion and to the experiences of faith communities. Sweden has long been secularized, but there's a new interest in religion, including Catholicism, which is a sign of hope.
The Catholic Church in Sweden has around 130,000 faithful officially registered in parishes, which is a figure that is lower than the reality. We realize this because half the requests for funerals concern people who weren’t officially registered in our communities. Many immigrants are not registered. But every year, we count between 2,000 and 3,000 new registrations.
A community marked by immigration
What are the main national communities present in your Church?
Cardinal Arborelius: The Poles are still a very important group, having been well established for several decades. They make up a significant proportion of our clergy: out of a total of 180 priests in the Stockholm diocese, I count around 70 Poles. Sweden has also long welcomed many Latin Americans, but not all of them are Catholics, some having joined Pentecostal communities.
More recent immigration has come from the Middle East — notably a large community of Chaldeans from Iraq — and from Africa. In northern Sweden, I have celebrated confirmations before entirely African congregations. The government had arranged for them to be welcomed in municipalities with vacant housing, but some immigrants then head back south to find professional opportunities.
Around 15% of our parish priests are African: the parish priest at Stockholm Cathedral is originally from Nigeria. Others come from French-speaking countries such as Burundi and Rwanda. There are also religious of French nationality. My vicar general is a French Dominican, Pascal-René Lung, who has lived in Sweden for a long time, and was parish priest in Lund. But the head of the French mission in Stockholm is currently a Pole, who studied at the Sorbonne.
We also welcome many Catholics from Asia, notably the Philippines and Vietnam. There were many of them during the pilgrimage to Rome.
Changing attitudes in Sweden towards migrants
The presence of migrants is now a source of tension in Swedish society. How can Pope Francis' message of welcome be made audible in a context of more restrictive immigration policies?
Cardinal Arborelius: Ten years ago, Sweden had a very open reception policy, like Germany, but this is no longer the case. In Stockholm, there’s a form of segregation between Swedes and immigrants. We're seeing new phenomena of violence, especially in the suburbs of our big cities. This is a source of great concern.
The change in migration policy is making life more difficult for refugees. A few very targeted work visas are still granted according to market needs—for example with Indian engineers in the sector of new technologies—but this is much more restricted than before.
This also poses very real difficulties for us when it comes to bringing in foreign priests. We recently obtained documents for two priests from Sri Lanka, but visas were refused for two priests from Nigeria and Eritrea. I hope we can find a solution.
This is a new situation. But I'd like to stress that, ecumenically speaking, all Christian churches are committed to helping refugees. We have around 30 churches in our ecumenical council, and we're trying to speak with one voice on this issue of support for migrants.
Ecumenical relations with the Lutherans
Ecumenism is highly developed in Sweden. However, the Lutheran Church and the Catholic Church follow very different orientations, particularly in terms of sexual morality. How can we reconcile charity in inter-church relations with the affirmation of doctrinal difference and Catholic specificity?
Cardinal Arborelius: It's actually easier to agree with Lutherans on the defense of migrants than on subjects like abortion, euthanasia, or the defense of marriage—subjects on which we are not in communion. Everyone knows that the Catholic Church is opposed to abortion, which is a very difficult issue in Sweden. There are ethical and dogmatic issues that limit ecumenical rapprochement. In fact, when it comes to defending life, we have more in common with the Pentecostals than with the Lutherans.
However, personal relations with Lutherans are excellent. Some pastors follow retreats inspired by the Exercises of Saint Ignatius. I myself am regularly invited by the Lutheran Church for lectures and preaching. Recently, I was able to speak for the first time in the Royal Chapel, at an ecumenical service for peace in Ukraine.
The Catholic Church has 44 parishes throughout Sweden, and the Lutheran Church lends us around 100 churches to serve our communities, particularly in rural northern Sweden. There has been a lot of goodwill on the part of the Lutheran Church to help us take care of our faithful.
Witnessing to Catholic moral teaching on sexuality
In March 2023, the Scandinavian bishops' letter on human sexuality, including an in-depth meditation on gender and the biblical meaning of the rainbow, met with widespread response. Is this firm yet respectful response to the challenges posed by contemporary culture the expression of a Catholic Church that assumes itself to be a “creative minority,” to use an expression dear to Benedict XVI?
Cardinal Arborelius: It's true to say that on questions of morality, the Catholic Church has a firm but calm attitude. We're not waging a “cultural war,” but the Catholic Church is firm. It doesn't change its opinion every day. And it's recognized and respected for that.
There's a certain weariness in society due to a secularization that has gone very far and is causing a lack of reference points. It's also clear that, in response, a spiritual need is emerging, particularly among young men. Female vocations are still rare, but we’re seeing a rebound in male vocations, both religious and priestly. A Swede has just joined the Carthusian monks in Switzerland.
For the Diocese of Stockholm, I had the joy of ordaining four priests in 2024. I’ve ordained some 20 priests since my installation in 1998. However, we haven’t yet been able to build up a sufficiently stable group to reopen our seminary. For the time being, our seminarians are studying in Spain and Rome.
Conversions to Catholicism
Does the Catholic Church exert any kind of attraction on the Lutheran milieu?
Cardinal Arborelius: We're seeing Lutherans and Protestants of other denominations, but also atheists and a few Muslims, join the Catholic Church. We receive around a hundred converts every year. We have two Benedictine communities which were formerly Protestant, and which have therefore undergone a collective conversion.
Our Catholic clergy includes eight or nine former pastors who have obtained a canonical dispensation to receive priestly ordination while remaining married. I remember that at the ordination of one of them, the Lutheran archbishop who had ordained him pastor a few years earlier came. His presence was a great sign of openness. It's probably painful for them, but that doesn't prevent them from preserving their bonds of friendship and esteem.
The Norwegian Jon Fosse, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2023, has spoken out extensively about his conversion to Catholicism. Are these conversions of high-level intellectuals taking place throughout Scandinavia, including Sweden?
Cardinal Arborelius: In fact, we're seeing conversions mainly from people with college degrees, doctors, professors, artists.... In fact, the rector of Stockholm University is a Catholic, a Dominican tertiary. In the media and cultural world, there are Catholics. On the other hand, there are very few in politics. I don't know any Catholic members of parliament at the moment.
The same phenomena can be found in other Northern European countries, with nuances. In Finland, the Catholic Church is smaller than in Sweden, but there are many local conversions. That said, the growth of the Catholic Church is mainly linked to communities of foreign migrants.
Openness to Catholicism
So Catholicism is now fully integrated into Swedish society?
Cardinal Arborelius: Things have indeed changed a lot. After the Reformation, Catholicism was banned. Gradually, tolerance was restored. And it wasn't until 1952 that Catholics received access again to certain professions, such as teaching. In that same year, the Diocese of Stockholm was established.
On the other hand, it was only in 2000 that the Catholic Church was granted equal rights. Previously it had been subject to specific taxes. I was a young bishop at the time, just out of the convent and with no legal experience, but thank God we were well helped and advised in this important change in the life of our Church.
It was a very important step for our development. Before, we were dependent on outside help, particularly from Germany. Now we’re autonomous and can afford to buy some Protestant churches.
The visit of Pope Francis in 2016 was very important for Catholics, but also for the Lutheran Church, and for the whole country. The situation has improved a lot, and anti-Catholic prejudices are disappearing. Young people are very open. Some say that “it's cooler to be Catholic than to be Lutheran”—it seems more exotic to them!
