K. G. Hammar

thumb|K. G. HammarKarl Gustav Hilding Hammar (born February 18, 1943 in Hässleholm), commonly referred to as K. G. Hammar, is a Swedish clergyman. He was Archbishop of Uppsala, head of the Church of Sweden, from 1997 to 2006. During his tenure as archbishop he was a highly divisive figure, who gained strong support from some and drew heavy criticism from others, and he oversaw the separation of church and state in Sweden on January 1, 2000. He holds a PhD and is the author of several books on theology.

Career

His father a priest, he was ordained priest in the Diocese of Lund in 1965, at the age of 22. From 1972 to 1975 he worked as a teacher at Trinity Theological College in Singapore. He returned home to work as a priest in the Church of Sweden in Lund. In 1992, he became bishop and head of the diocese, and in 1997 he was appointed Archbishop by the Social Democrat-controlled Government of Sweden under the state church which was then still in place, but on the way to be abolished. Soon after his appointment, he ordained Christina Odenberg, the first Swedish female bishop.

Theological and political positions

"Jag har inte sanningen, jag söker den"- K.G. Hammar

As the head of the church, he gained much popularity as well as criticism for his strong opinions, which emphasized humanism and tolerance according to his supporters, and was highly politically partisan and inappropriate for his position according to his critics, who saw him more as a left wing...
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