Sweden, August 12, 2025
Photo: svtplay.se
While the liberal Church of Sweden (Evangelical Lutheran), the largest religious denomination in the country, has consistently reported falling numbers, the Orthodox Church has been growing for several years now, thanks to immigration but also a noticeable number of conversions.
Of the several Orthodox jurisdictions operating in Sweden, the Serbian Church is the largest, according to a recent government article.
A recent report from SVT News highlighted the growth of religiosity among Swedish youth and the role that social media has played in this change.
The outlet spoke with Leo Svär, a young Orthodox convert who says that, although coming from a non-religious family, he began thinking about life more deeply around seventh grade and began searching for a traditional church. Our times are worrying and unable to provide answers to important questions he says, thus many are turning to God.
The report was reposted by e.orthodoxy with English subtitles:
In September 2021, OrthoChristian reported that six people were baptized on the same day at a Ukrainian Orthodox parish in Boliden in Northern Sweden—a town of less than 2,000 people.
And this past weekend, several people were baptized at a Romanian Orthodox church.
On Sunday, August 10, His Grace Bishop Macarie of Northern Europe celebrated the Divine Liturgy and baptized four people at the Episcopal Chapel in Gothenburg, the second largest city after Stockholm, reports the Basilica News Agency.
Photo: basilica.ro
The hierarch baptized and chrismated a young man named Christian, 33, two young women named Samra, 29, and Nermina, 31, and the latter’s daughter Adelina, 7.
Bp. Macarie offered each of them a Bible, prayer book, and icons to help them remain steadfast in their new faith.
“The church in Gothenburg, where the Inexhaustible Chalice and Milk-Giver icons of the Mother of God are venerated, is a place of worship where more and more young people are converting to Orthodoxy, becoming confessors of the true faith in Scandinavia,” writes the Romanian Church’s official news outlet.
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