Religion

Female priests outnumber male priests in Sweden

23 Jul, 2020

For the first time in history, there are more women priests than men in Sweden.

This was announced by Cristina Grenholm, spokeswoman for the Swedish Lutheran Evangelical Church.

To be exact, 50.2% of the evangelical ministers qualified to perform religious service in Sweden are women: 1,533 out of a total of 3,063 prelates.

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"In 1990 it was predicted that by 2090 women would make up half of the Swedish clergy. The process was actually much faster," explained Gremholm.

After the separation of Church and State in Sweden in 2000, a large number of female students began to study theology, to such an extent that in 2013 they represented 70% of the total number of students.

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Even though the gender gap has been reduced in the Swedish Church, the salary one remains: a female pastor in the Swedish church is paid less than a male pastor. The average difference is evaluated in €215 per month.