Michael Bjerkhagen

Michael Russel Johannes Bjerkhagen (born 28 November 1966 in Kandy, Sri Lanka) is a Swedish priest. He is pastor of the Royal Court Parish and chaplain to the King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

He left Sri Lanka in July 1972 when he was 5-years-old with his adoptive sister, having been adopted by a childless Swedish couple Christer Bjerkhagen. Both he and his adoptive sister were at the same orphanage, Evelyn Nurseries Orphanage, in Kandy. His adoptive father, Michael Bjerkhagen, was a Colonel of the Royal Cavalry Regiment and his adoptive mother was an economist. He did not have difficulty communicating with his adoptive parents as he was fluent in English from his childhood as his biological mother was of Burgher descent; his birth father came from a Buddhist family with a long tradition in Sri Lanka.

He had a prosperous upbringing in Sweden and grew up in a big manor house. His family has been equestrian competitors leading him to develop riding skills. He was taught to respect the Throne, the Cross and the Sword (meaning the Monarchy, the Church and the Armed Forces), as well as learning to help others and caring for those who are less fortunate.Ten years after his arrival in Sweden, his family adopted his other sister.

His primary education was at Stenstorp School in the west of Sweden. Then he went to Ålleberg High School in Falköping where he studied both Latin and Greek, which alongside religion studies were his favourite subjects. He had a good singing voice and was a boy soprano before he became a tenor.

After he graduated from high school and finished basic military training he decided to further his studies to become a priest.

He studied to theology at Sweden’s oldest university in Uppsala (founded in 1477) with the intentions of becoming a priest. He also spent a year at an English theological college in Lincoln in Northeastern England.

At Uppsala, his specialist subjects were New Testament Exegesis and classical Greek. Old Testament Exegesis and Hebrew as well as Psychology of Religions and Church History. His other great interests during the study period were ecumenism and the so- necessary dialogue between religions.

In 1990, he took a master's degree in Theology in 1991 was ordained as priest in the Church of Sweden, Diocese of Stockholm, and Stockholm Cathedral. He immediately hired by one of the inner-city congregations St. Johannes, and after that Högalid.

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