LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Sweden: Missionary Church
built 605 days ago
Since the separation of church and state in 2000, eight recognized religious denominations, in addition to the Church of Sweden, raise revenues through member-contributions made through the national tax system. All recognized denominations are entitled to direct government financial support, contributions made through the national tax system, or a mix of both. The state does not favor the Church of Sweden at the expense of other religious groups in any noticeable way. Since the population is predominantly Christian, certain Christian religious holy days are national holidays, but this does not appear to affect other religious groups negatively. School students from minority religious backgrounds are entitled to take relevant religious holidays.
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Christmas Day in Sweden is spent in church. December 26 is St. Stephen's Day (Staffen) in honor of the patron saint of animals. An old tradition on this day was to give the farm animals extra food to eat.
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In the last part of the 17 century a number of Ashkenazi Jews and some Jewish families converted to Christianity settled in Sweden. A law signed in 1685 by King Karl XI banned Jews from Sweden and several later laws followed this line. There was a difference of opinion between on the one side the king and the nobility and the clergy and middle classes. The latter were hostile to the Jews as they viewed them as a threat to the church and to the trade respectively.
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Eighty-five percent of the people are members of the Church of Sweden. There is considerable religious pluralism, as a result of immigration. There are an estimated 250,000 Muslims and 166,000 Roman Catholics as well as significant numbers of adherents of other religious movements. Freedom of religion is constitutionally guaranteed.
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