Catholic Church in Sweden

Catholic Church in Sweden
*Swedish: Katolska kyrkan i Sverige*
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Classification	Catholic
Polity	Episcopal
Governance	Scandinavian Bishops Conference
Structure
Pope	Pope Francis
	Anders Arborelius
Apostolic Nuncio	James Green
Region	Sweden
Founder	Archbishop Ansgar, by tradition
Origin	Circa 826 1594-1599 de facto reestablished by King Sigismund of Sweden 1781 legally reestablished as an apostolic vicariate
Members	Circa 113,000 registered members (circa 150,000 unofficially)
Official website	Catholic Church in Sweden (English)

The Catholic Church in Sweden was established by Archbishop Ansgar in Birka in 829, and further developed by the Christianization of Sweden in the 9th century. King Olof Skötkonung (ca. 970-1021) is considered the first Christian king of Sweden.

In the Middle Ages, continental culture, philosophy and science spread to Sweden through the Catholic Church, which also founded schools, Uppsala University, hospitals as well as monasteries and convents. Several church representatives also became significant actors outside the religious sphere.

The Reformation in Sweden began in 1527 when King Gustav Vasa and his Riksdag of Västerås broke the full communion of the Swedish church with the Pope in Rome, and instead made it politically controlled by the kingdom. Controversies about the state of Catholicism in the Swedish church endured, however, even until the reigns of King John III (1568-1592) and the Catholic King Sigismund of Sweden (1592-1599).

At the Uppsala Synod in 1593, under the influence of Duke and future King Charles IX of Sweden, the Swedish church finally became a Lutheran state church, ratified by Charles' victory in his war against his Catholic predecessor in 1599. Governmental anti-Catholicism was imposed in Sweden, including deportations and death penalties for Catholics in 1599-1781.