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The Nordic Churches and the Ecumenical Movement

Ecumenical Review, The, April, 2000 by Peter Lodberg

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This brief overview shows that constitutionally freedom of religion in Denmark is regulated from the perspective of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as the established church (art. 4). The king or queen must be a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (art. 6). Neither the matter of the Evangelical Lutheran Church nor the matter of religious communities dissenting from the established church has been regulated by law as prescribed in articles 66 and 69. Consequently, the life of the established church and of the religious minorities is mostly regulated through administrative acts and by the practice of various authorities.

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Freedom of religion is guaranteed by article 67 of the constitution: "The citizens shall be entitled to form congregations for the worship of God in a manner consistent with their convictions, provided that nothing at variance with good morals or public order shall be taught or done." The word "citizen" covers both Danish and foreign citizens, and the term "worship of God" is to be interpreted as to comprise both monotheistic and polytheistic worship. The right to freedom of religion is also elaborated in article 70: "No person shall for reasons of his creed or descent be deprived of access to complete enjoyment of his civic and political rights, nor shall he for such reasons evade compliance with any common civic duty." According to Ole Espersen, article 70 ensures that the state does not deprive any individual of civic and political rights due to religious conviction, but also prevents an individual from being exempted from civic duties due to religious convictions. Thus, the constitution balances freedom of religion as an absolute right and the relative freedom of religious practice.

Until 1969, official recognition of religious communities dissenting from the established church was by way of a royal decree. Among the legal effects of this recognition was the authorization to perform christening and civilly valid marriages. In 1969 this mode of recognition was abandoned, because of the adoption of a new marriage act, according to which church weddings having civil validity can take place not only in the established church and the recognized communities, but also "in other religious communities when one of the parties belongs to the religious community, and the religious community has ministers who are authorized by the minister of ecclesiastical affairs to celebrate weddings".

Thus, since 1969 the basic law that defines the actual content of religious freedom in Denmark is the marriage act! Official recognition of a religious community by the minister of ecclesiastical affairs takes place by giving one of its ministers -- not the community itself -- authorization to celebrate weddings with civil validity. This means that every time a religious community gets a new minister, he or she must apply to the minister of ecclesiastical affairs for a licence to celebrate weddings. In the preparatory work for the marriage act, a religious community was defined as "a genuine religious community in the normal sense of this word, i.e. not only a religious `movement' or a religious or philosophical society, but an association or assembly (a religious community) whose primary aim is worship of God (cult) according to an elaborated teaching and rite".

The Nordic Churches and the Ecumenical Movement

Ecumenical Review, The, April, 2000 by Peter Lodberg

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