Swedish priest accuses bishops of lying about freedom in ordaining same-sex marriages

Gårdfeldt disagrees with the decision of the Church to give priests a choice whether or not they want to ordain same-sex marriages, Dagen reports.

The bishops of the Church of Sweden earlier published a statement. They said they do not have the legal power to force priests to perform same-sex marriages.

Last year, Lars Gårdfeldt protested against this decision by boycotting heterosexual marriages. However, now he went a step further and reported the bishops to a special committee.

“Bishops do have the power to force priest to perform same-sex wedding”

The priest claims that the bishops give the impression that they cannot force priests to perform same-sex marriages. According to him, this is not true.

Gårdfeldt refers to Jewish rabbis who must follow specific requirements to check whether a marriage may be sealed. An example of such a requirement is that both persons who are married "are born of a Jewish mother."

According to the priest, the same freedom applies to the bishops of the Church of Sweden, who can choose whether they want to appoint priests that refuse to perform same-sex marriages. "It is a problem that the bishops present themselves as more powerless than they are. The bishops' statement can thus be interpreted as a violation of the eighth commandment, in that, as Luther put it, 'false testimony against almost being carried [...] and thereby misleading and deceiving him'."

He requests the committee to investigate whether the bishops' statement about their powerlessness to force priests to perform same-sex marriages is justified.