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Demokratiskolan
The Religion & spirituality card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 90 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaCulture & everyday life
  • Centre of gravityCentral government
  • Points of influence3 on the journey
  • Decisive electionThe general election
Culture & everyday life

Religion & spirituality

Religions, practices & places of worship

Freedom of religion is protected in the constitution (grundlagen): the right to believe, to change belief or not to believe at all. Since the year 2000 the central government is separated from the Church of Sweden (Svenska kyrkan) but supports religious communities and regulates everything from the right to perform marriages to burials. The municipality's role shows up when faith needs a building, because then detailed development plans (detaljplaner) and building permits await.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · building permits, premises & grants · approx 30 %
  • State · constitution, community support & marriage rights · approx 65 %
  • EU · discrimination protection at work · approx 5 %

The central government sets the frames through the constitution, the support for religious communities and the right to perform marriages. The general election weighs heaviest, but the municipal election decides where a new place of worship can be built.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityThe building & the land
The regionNo formal role
Central governmentThe constitution & the support · centre of gravity
Who decides?
The municipal council (kommunfullmäktige), the building committee (byggnadsnämnden) and the city planning office.
The region does not govern religious matters.
The Riksdag, the Government, the Agency for Support to Faith Communities (Myndigheten för stöd till trossamfund) and the Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency (Kammarkollegiet).
What do they decide?
Detailed development plans and building permits for places of worship, renting out premises and sometimes grants to associations with a religious basis.
No formal role, but the hospitals provide a place for spiritual care where the religious communities meet patients and relatives.
Freedom of religion in the Instrument of Government, central government support to religious communities, the right to perform marriages and the rules for burial services.
Where are decisions made?
In the building committee and in the detailed development plans' consultation.
In practice at the hospitals, through the hospital chaplaincy and equivalent activities.
In the Riksdag and in the agencies' decisions on support and the right to perform marriages.
Who pays?
The religious communities pay for their own buildings. The municipal tax carries the planning work.
The religious communities and the central government pay for the spiritual care, not the regional tax.
The central government budget carries the community support. The burial fee is paid by everyone through the tax bill.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election Statement in detailed development plan consultation, appeal of a building permit if you are affected, citizen's proposal (medborgarförslag).
Regional election No strong way in here. Religious matters are decided in the general and municipal elections.
General election The general election steers the terms for the community support. Changes to the law go out on referral.
EUEU law protects against discrimination on grounds of religion, among other things at work. Otherwise religious policy is national. Influenced in the European Parliament election.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case A congregation builds a new place of worship
  1. State

    The constitution gives the right to practise faith

    Freedom of religion in the Instrument of Government protects the right to gather and practise your religion. The central government can also support the community financially through the Agency for Support to Faith Communities, if the conditions are met.

    Point of influence

    The general election steers the terms for the community support, and changes go out on referral.

  2. Municipality

    The detailed development plan points out the place

    A place of worship requires land where the detailed development plan (detaljplan) allows an assembly building. Sometimes a new plan is needed, and then a consultation is held where neighbours, associations and everyone else may give their views.

    Point of influence

    The consultation is open to everyone. The comments must be reported and addressed before the plan is adopted.

  3. Municipality

    The building committee grants the building permit

    The committee examines the application against the detailed development plan and the Planning and Building Act. Affected neighbours are heard before the decision.

    Point of influence

    Affected neighbours can give their views and appeal the decision to the County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen).

  4. State

    The right to perform marriages and support fall into place

    If the community wants to marry couples, it applies to the Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency (Kammarkollegiet), which can grant the right to perform marriages and appoint marriage officiants. Central government organisation support and sometimes premises grants can contribute to the activity.

  5. Your everyday life

    The doors open in the neighbourhood

    Friday prayer, Sunday mass or Saturday sabbath: the place where people gather rests on a constitutional right, a detailed development plan and a building permit. All three could be influenced.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. What does freedom of religion mean in practice where you live, and what spaces are there for the person who wants to practise their faith?

  2. Should the central government give financial support to religious communities, and if so on what conditions?

  3. How should society handle situations where freedom of religion collides with other rights?

  4. What role do religious communities play in your municipality's social life, even for the person who does not believe?

  5. School is to be non-confessional. Where is the line between teaching about religion and practising it?

Glossary

Religionsfrihet
The constitutionally protected freedom to practise your religion alone or with others, or to abstain entirely.
Trossamfund
A community for religious activity that can be registered and apply for central government support.
Vigselrätt
A permit from the Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency (Kammarkollegiet) that lets a community perform legally valid marriages.
Begravningsavgift
A fee that everyone registered as resident pays for the burial services, regardless of faith and membership.
Detaljplanesamråd
The open stage where everyone can submit comments on a proposal for a detailed development plan.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.