K. G. Hammar
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The Most Reverend Karl Gustav Hilding Hammar |
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| Archbishop Emeritus of Uppsala Primate Emeritus of Sweden |
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| Church | Church of Sweden |
| Archdiocese | Uppsala |
| Appointed | 1997 |
| In office | 1997-2006 |
| Predecessor | Gunnar Weman |
| Successor | Anders Wejryd |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1965 |
| Consecration | 1992 |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
February 18, 1943 Hässleholm, Sweden |
| Nationality | Swede |
| Previous post | Bishop of Lund (1992-1997) |
Karl Gustav Hilding Hammar (born February 18, 1943 in Hässleholm), commonly referred to as K. G. Hammar, is a Swedish clergyman. He was Archbishop of Uppsala, head of the Church of Sweden, from 1997 to 2006. During his tenure as archbishop he was a highly divisive figure, who gained strong support from some and drew heavy criticism from others, and he oversaw the separation of church and state in Sweden on January 1, 2000. He holds a PhD and is the author of several books on theology.
His father a priest, he was ordained priest in the Diocese of Lund in 1965, at the age of 22. From 1972 to 1975 he worked as a teacher at Trinity Theological College in Singapore. He returned home to work as a priest in the Church of Sweden in Lund. In 1992, he became bishop and head of the diocese, and in 1997 he was appointed Archbishop by the Social Democrat-controlled Government of Sweden under the state church which was then still formally in place but lost its true standing already in 1958 and was on its way to be officially abolished. Soon after his appointment, he ordained Christina Odenberg, the first Swedish woman to become a bishop.
"I don´t know the truth - I am just seeking it" - K.G. Hammar
As the head of the church, he gained much popularity as well as criticism for his strong opinions, which emphasized humanism and tolerance according to his supporters, and was highly politically partisan and inappropriate for his position according to his critics, who saw him more as a left wing politician than a clergyman. He fought for extended amnesty for refugees and illegal immigrants in Sweden, debt relief for poor countries, more humane treatment of prisoners and tolerance towards followers of other religions than Christianity. He also criticised the invasion of Iraq and global capitalism, and urged for a boycott against goods from Israeli settlements. The former leader of the Swedish Christian Democrat party Alf Svensson has called Hammar a "leftist populist" and the then-party leader of the Moderate Party Bo Lundgren called on Hammar to either stop using his post as a political platform or to resign and stand for election as a leftist politician instead.
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