Page 27 - bon-dia-aruba-20200727

A27
WORLD NEWS Monday 27 July 2020
Female priests now outnumber male ones in Church of Sweden

By DAVID KEYTON likely to be occupied by
Associated Press women as well.
STOCKHOLM (AP) — The "I do think it is something we
Church of Sweden has should take as a warning,
more female than male always, when we see that
priests for the first time, there is an imbalance," the
according to numbers re- Rev. Cristina Grenholm, the
leased this month, a sign head of theology for the
of huge strides for gender Church of Sweden, said,
equality since women were calling the gender imbal-
first allowed to be ordained ance among worshippers
in 1960. "striking."
The Lutheran institution, "I do think that men have
which was the official something to discover in
Swedish state church un- the church," Grenholm
til 2000, now counts 1,533 said.
women serving as priests Anna Inghammer, 42, a
and 1,527 men. Its arch- mother of three studying
bishop and several bishops theology and a candi-
are also women. date for the priesthood,
"It's a mirror of the society, said the balance of men
in a way," the Rev. Elisabeth and women in the church
Oberg Hansen said after Rev. Elisabeth Oberg Hansen of the Church of Sweden reviews the service planned by her student made sense to her, but she
giving a sermon in a small Rikard Kjellman ahead of his first sermon in Stockholm, Thursday, July 23, 2020. thinks more work is needed
church in Stockholm. "It's as Associated Press to bring equality in other ar-
it should be." erage of 67.4 for the Euro- in the priesthood of the can say is 'I don't know. I eas.
Oberg Hansen became a pean Union as a whole. Church of Norway. don't know,'" Brunne said in "Jesus, in his time, was
priest more than 30 years "It's a good thing, but I don't Church of Sweden Bishop a telephone interview. "It's standing up for justice for
ago, and she clearly re- think so much about it now- Eva Brunne, who retired af- the same thing if you look people of all classes and all
calls the discrimination she adays," Oberg Hansen said ter a decade leading the at universities in Sweden — genders, so I think it's time
faced when the first parish of the gender issue in her Stockholm diocese, helped more women than men. for women to even more
she was assigned to didn't work. push for the acceptance That means more female take a step forward," Ing-
accept her. Sweden's path towards of women but stressed she lawyers, female doctors, hammer said.
But times have changed. gender parity is shared does not think the priest- etcetera." "Of course, representation
The European Institute for across Scandinavia, with hood should become an Sweden's church has some is good, representation of
Gender Equality last year roughly equal numbers of overwhelmingly female 5.8 million members, rep- women, but also ethnicity
ranked Sweden at the top men and women serving profession. resenting some 57.7% of and class...and that's also
of its annual equality index, in the clergy ranks of the "I've been asked during my the country's population. something that we need to
giving the country a score Church of Denmark and 10 years as a bishop, 'Where But many pews are empty work on that," she said. "The
of 83.6 compared to an av- women well-represented are all the men?' and all I these days, and are more church is for everyone."q

U.S. diplomat says America keeps pushing to end Qatar crisis

By JON GAMBRELL other nations in the GCC, Hook said he planned to
Associated Press have sought dialogue be- travel Monday to Kuwait
DUBAI, United Arab Emir- tween the nations since, City to meet with officials
ates (AP) — The U.S. con- with Kuwait's emir Sheikh there.
tinues to push for an end Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah "I've seen some steps back-
of the four-nation boycott leading those efforts. ward over the last couple
of Qatar, even after the Sheikh Sabah was hospital- of years," Hook said. "We've
hospitalization of Kuwait's ized in Kuwait City on July reached points where I
ruling emir who led talks to 18, underwent surgery the think both sides were opti-
resolve the yearslong dis- next day and later traveled mistic and we've reached
pute, a U.S. diplomat said via a U.S. Air Force C-17 fly- points where both sides
Sunday. ing hospital to Rochester, were pessimistic.
U.S. Special Representa- Minnesota, home of the "I think our role and the role
tive for Iran Brian Hook ac- flagship campus of the of Kuwait is to do what we
knowledged the challenge Mayo Clinic. Kuwait has yet can to foster dialogue, to
ahead on ending the crisis to say what ails the 91-year- help them make progress." In this Nov. 29, 2018 file photo, Brian Hook, U.S. special
that's torn apart the Gulf old ruler. The four countries cut ties representative for Iran, speaks at the Iranian Materiel Display at
Cooperation Council, with "My expectation is that the to Qatar on June 5, 2017, Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington.
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and role that Kuwait has been just after a summit in Saudi Associated Press
the United Arab Emirates playing will continue," Hook Arabia in which Gulf lead-
part of the boycott that's told journalists on a con- ers met with President Don- relationship with Iran, with Hook, who is leading U.S.
targeted fellow member ference call after meeting ald Trump. They say the cri- which it shares a massive efforts to extend an arms
Qatar since June 2017. Qatari officials in Doha. sis stems from Qatar's sup- offshore gas field that pro- embargo on Iran, said the
Egypt as well joined the "The emir is at the Mayo port for extremist groups in vides the peninsular nation topic came up during his
boycott, which saw nations Clinic. As I said, the United the region, charges denied its wealth. talks Sunday with Qatari
close their airspace and States very much hopes by Doha. Qatar restored full diplo- Foreign Minister Sheikh Mo-
borders to Qatar. and prays for his improved The four nations have also matic ties to Iran amid the hammed bin Abdulrahman
Kuwait and Oman, the two health." pointed to Qatar's close dispute. Al Thani.q