Martin Modéus, bishop of the diocese of Linköping, has been elected new archbishop after Antje Jackelén, the Church of Sweden announces.
Martin Modéus received 59 percent of the votes in today’s archbishop election. He will take over as archbishop of the Church of Sweden from Antje Jackelén, who will retire on 30 October.
“I am grateful and happy for the support and look forward to going into the task, with God’s help and together with good colleagues and co-workers. Now is a time for preparation, reflection and prayer for the accession “, says Martin Modéus in a press release.
He is expected to hold a press conference in Linköping starting at 3 p.m.
Modéu’s opponent Johan Dalman, bishop of Strängnäs diocese, received 41 percent of the vote.
A total of 876 people were eligible to vote in this year’s archbishop election, including the church board and members of diocesan boards and cathedral chapters in the Church of Sweden’s thirteen dioceses.
Since the archbishop will also be a bishop in Uppsala diocese, deacons and priests who have a ministry in Uppsala diocese will also vote, as well as an equal number of elected electors appointed by the diocesan parishes.
The new archbishop will be received in a service in Uppsala Cathedral on 4 December. He becomes the 71st Archbishop of the Church of Sweden.
Martin Modéus was born in 1962 in Jönköping and ordained a priest in 1986 for Växjö diocese. In March 2011, he was ordained a bishop and has since been Bishop of Linköping’s diocese.