Bishop Antje Jackelén elected Archbishop

The Church of Sweden has elected its new Archbishop today after Bishop Antje Jackelén received 55.9 percent of votes. She will be installed as Archbishop during a televised mass in Uppsala Cathedral on Sunday, 15 June 2014, and is the first woman to be elected Archbishop of the Swedish Church.

“I’m thrilled and delighted and grateful for the strong support. It also feels good knowing that I have eight months to prepare before taking over the position. During that time, I will continue my work as bishop in the diocese of Lund,” says Bishop Antje Jackelén.

Preliminary votes in the archbishop’s election:

Bishop Antje Jackelén, Diocese  of Lund 55.9%   174 votes 


Bishop Ragnar Persenius, Diocese of Uppsala  33.1%   103 votes 


Church Secretary Cristina Grenholm, Central Church Office Uppsala  7.1%   22 votes


Dean Johan Dalman, Strängnäs  2.9%   9 votes


Bishop Per Eckerdal, Diocese of Gothenburg 0.6%   2 votes

Total number of possible votes: 325

Diocesan Boards/chapters 243 votes,

Central Board of the Church of Sweden: 15 votes,

Uppsala priests/deacons/electors:  67 votes.

The Uppsala Diocesan Board will perform the final definitive count of votes in the archbishop’s election on 21 October 2013.

Current Archbishop Anders Wejryd will lay down the crozier (the bishop’s staff) at a mass—vespers—in Uppsala Cathedral at 6 pm on Saturday, 14 June.

Eligible voters 

The Archbishop is elected by the members of the Central Board and of the chapters and diocesan boards of all dioceses. Since the Archbishop is also bishop of the diocese of Uppsala, deacons, priests and electors, whose votes are divided by 10, are also eligible to vote. See also the attached fact sheet.

Read more at www.svenskakyrkan.se/arkebiskopsvalet

Contacts for media

For contact with Bishop Antje Jackelén: press secretary Daniel Bramsell, tel. +46 (0)734 33 89 83, daniel.bramsell@svenskakyrkan.se

Press secretary to the Archbishop Ewa Almqvist, tel.: +46 (0)705 469 677, ewa.almqvist@svenskakyrkan.se

Role of the Archbishop in brief

The Archbishop is the leading representative of the Church of Sweden in Swedish society and in international contexts. The Archbishop must clarify what the Church of Sweden stands for through interaction with and by exerting influence over contacts in other religious communities, politics, business and organisations.

As the leader of one of the world's major Evangelical Lutheran national churches, the Archbishop also plays an important ecumenical role. In Sweden, this includes involvement in the National Christian Council of Sweden. International collaboration is extensive through the World Council of Churches, the Conference of European Churches and the Porvoo Communion.

The Archbishop chairs the chapter and serves as diocesan bishop for the pastoral area within Uppsala Diocese, which covers contracts for Uppsala, Sigtuna and Enköping.

The Archbishop chairs the Bishops’ Conference. The Archbishop convenes and leads the bishops’ joint meetings. The Archbishop is not superior to the other bishops, but is responsible for initiating joint deliberations and actions.

The Archbishop also chairs the Central Board of the Church of Sweden and its Working Committee, as well as the Doctrinal Commission of the Church of Sweden’s General Synod. 

The Archbishop’s duties include holding many divine services, including installation of bishops, visitation masses and celebrations of international and national holidays. The Archbishop also leads mass at Uppsala Cathedral every Wednesday morning.