The
Parishes of SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
are subdivisions within the
Church of SwedenThe Church of Sweden is the largest church in Sweden. The Church of Sweden professes the Lutheran branch of Christianity, and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. With almost 6.9 million members, it is the largest Lutheran church in the world. Until 2000 it held the position of state church. As of...
that historically were called
socken but nowadays are called
församling. But they were also a local administrative subdivision of civil government also called
socken and up until the 1900s with common geographical borders as the religious parish.
After the
Protestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe which is generally deemed to have begun with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 although a number of precursors such as Jan Hus predate that event...
in the 16th century the church also became a state church and as such was charged with administrative tasks like as keeping the civic registry.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Parishes of Sweden' Start a new discussion about 'Parishes of Sweden' Answer questions from other users |
The
Parishes of SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
are subdivisions within the
Church of SwedenThe Church of Sweden is the largest church in Sweden. The Church of Sweden professes the Lutheran branch of Christianity, and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. With almost 6.9 million members, it is the largest Lutheran church in the world. Until 2000 it held the position of state church. As of...
that historically were called
socken but nowadays are called
församling. But they were also a local administrative subdivision of civil government also called
socken and up until the 1900s with common geographical borders as the religious parish.
After the
Protestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe which is generally deemed to have begun with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 although a number of precursors such as Jan Hus predate that event...
in the 16th century the church also became a state church and as such was charged with administrative tasks like as keeping the civic registry. Eventually religious and civil matters became separated in two entities within the same district (in 1863); the religious congregation (
församling) and the
civil parishIn England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and in some places the lowest tier of local government, below districts and counties. A civil parish can alternatively be known as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council; and in a limited number of...
(
socken). The civil parish handled municipal tasks, but the congregation still retained a significant share of influence, including responsibility for schools.
On July 1, 1991, the
Swedish Tax AgencyThe Swedish Tax Agency is a government agency in Sweden responsible for national tax collection.The agency was formed on 1 January 2004 through the merge of the Swedish National Tax Board and the then 10 existing regional tax authorities .The Swedish Tax Agency was also formerly the...
took over the remaining duties related to the population register from the parishes.
The historical civil parishes (
socken) are still used in statistics and should not be confused with the religious parishes (
församling) that in the latest years, especially since the
separation of church and stateSeparation of church and state is a political and legal doctrine that government and religious institutions are to be kept separate and independent from each other...
in 2000, have seen major geographical changes.