The Church of Norway will choose its own bishops

Parliament voted Friday to weaken links between Church of Norway and the Norwegian Government. The Church will elect its own leaders, but the State will continue to pay the bills.

Theologian and Conservative Party Vice-Chairman Inge Lønning favours splitting Church and State. PHOTO: ERLEND AAS / SCANPIX

All seven parties in the Norwegian parliament, the Storting, support weaker links between the Church of Norway and the Norwegian Government. The biggest change will be that bishops will be chosen by the Church and rather than by the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs.

The reform requires several changes to Norway’s Constitution. Amendments cannot be carried out within one election period. As a result, the new law will come into effect in 2012, when it is passed by the Parliament which will be elected in 2009.

The State will continue to pay for the Church of Norway and other religious organizations. Suggestions that church members should pay subscriptions were rejected.

The seven parties still want the Monarch to belong to the Lutheran evangelical church. The government however will no longer have to ensure that half its members belong to the Church of Norway.

“This reform is long overdue,” says Inge Lønning, Professor of Theology at the University of Oslo and Conservative Party Vice-Chairman.

“To have delegated authority and to decide for onself are two very different things. Delegated authority can betaken back by the Government. Once the Constitution has been amended this framework will have changed for ever,” adds Lønning.

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