Swedish Cleric Under Media Fire for Refusing To Wear Rainbow Vestment

Whoever marries the spirit of this age will find himself a widower in the next. ~ William Ralph Inge, KCVO, FBA, Dean of St Paul's Cathedral, London.

From The European Conservative

By Tamás Orbán

In contrast, comments show overwhelming support from everyday people for the priest who rejects LGBT ideology creeping into the 
Church.

Multiple leftist media outlets attacked Swedish pastor Håkan Persson, the parish priest of Markaryd, after a recent social media post in which he criticized the new rainbow-colored, LGBT-friendly vestments designed to be the symbol of the progressivism of the Church of Sweden.

In his Facebook post, Persson stated that the rainbow-colored chasuble and stole, designed at the initiative of the Västerås diocese, “will not enter Markaryd’s church as long as I am vicar.”

While the media paints him as acting from “a hidden minority-intolerant agenda” and accuses him of discriminating against the LGBT community in his parish, the priest insists he merely follows the liturgical rules of the church, and his doors remain open to anyone, but not to momentary political trends and sexual advertising.

“In the Church of Sweden, we have liturgical vestments that follow the church year. We actually have rules for that,” Persson explained. Anything other than white, red, green, and purple, depending on the liturgical season, is inconsistent with the Church’s official guidelines, he said.

In stark contrast to the leftist media reports, social media is full of overwhelming support for the priest.

“Apparently, there are still priests who have some balls,” said one user. “Kudos to you Håkan, stand your ground, many think like you,” wrote another. “Let the Church keep its traditions.”

“Don’t really understand what’s all the fuss about? It was just a bold statement based on the fact that he did not appreciate the politicization of the liturgy,” another comment reads. “The cross includes all people in the whole world. Protect the Church from politics.”

According to the Church’s website, the vestments took a year and a half to design and produce, with careful consideration for everything from shape to proportions and colors—except whether they fit liturgical standards, apparently.

“It was a natural step to produce a liturgical vestment that gives human diversity a clear expression in the service,” said diocesan assistant Cecilia Redner, one of the people behind the initiative.

“The hope is that many churches around the diocese want to borrow the chasuble and use it in religious services and contexts where the message of everyone’s equal value can be at the center,” added Anette Andersson and Eva-Lena Lidström, the two tailors commissioned for the work.

The Church of Sweden has long been regarded as one of the most progressive churches in Europe, even among the wider Lutheran tradition of Scandinavia. It has actively embraced social change, promoting gender equality and transgender rights, and even performing same-sex weddings since 2009.

The Church is also at the forefront of ecumenism. One of its biggest scandals in recent decades came when its first openly lesbian bishop, Eva Brunne, proposed removing the Christian crosses from the Seamen’s Church in Stockholm to make it more welcoming to visitors of all faiths, while at the same time marking the direction toward Mecca inside.

Pictured: Håkan Persson, Vicar of Markaryd, Småland, Sweden