Från invandrarkyrka till mångkulturellt samfund : En kyrkosociologisk analys av katolska kyrkan i Sverige från 1970-tal till 1990-tal

This dissertation is focusing upon the Catholic Church of Sweden and her transformation from a marginal minority church of immigrants to a multicultural congregation, which has become the second in size after the Lutheran State Church. The process of change is studied in relation to the Swedish Immigration's Policy and the different existing cultural paradigms that have existed since the Second World War. The principal part of this study is to increase the sociological knowledge about the Catholic Church of Sweden and analyse the future crossroads the Church will be facing in the future and how the social-pastoral work is being effected by external and internal factors. The dissertation has been focussed on four levels: Society, Church, Group/community, and Individual. The Swedish authorities have not so far seen religion and the churches as main social actors. The Swedish model tends to give the State monopoly in the production, regulation and financing of welfare services. Through the debate about Civil Society, other social actors such as the Non Governmental Organisations, the private sector and family/informal social networks are slowly transforming the Swedish welfare state. The Catholic Church in Sweden would need entrepreneurs if her social role should be increased. The actual leadership of the Catholic Church of Sweden has not changed substantially from the 1970's to the 1990's. On a central level, the church has had an Anglo-Saxon/German leadership, which was moderate/conservative in vision and modern in mission. On the parish level, the Slavic influence has increased with a more explicit conservative and traditional view on faith. National parishes are not allowed in the Catholic Church in Sweden, as the bishops believe that could lead to disunion, ethnic and cultural challenges. Thus, national groups have been created which comprise approximately half of the registered Catholics in Sweden. The dissertation concludes that the Catholic Church in Sweden has a multicultural composition of her members, her leadership is multicultural but without a manifested multicultural vision