Appreciation shown for a dear relative, or an outdated view of women as minor possessions? The issue of handing over the bride in the church at weddings has flared up into heated debate in the past week.
– The Church of Sweden stands for certain values and traditions, says priest Johannes Svanerud in Efter fem.
Should it be allowed for the bride to be escorted to the altar by, for example, her father, or not? Johannes Svanerud, priest in Salem’s parish, does not think so.
I think that the Swedish church stands for certain values and traditions. We talk a lot about equality, equality and the equal value of all people, he says.
Letting a bride be led down the aisle and handed over to her future husband is incompatible with the church’s Christian values, says Svanerud.
“Not for prohibition, not for coercion”
Henrik Lööv, who is a priest in the Church of Sweden in Jönköping, does not agree that bride delivery should be banned, or that it would violate the principle of gender equality.
My experience is that it is not usually about any kind of authorization, but that the bride wants to mark the importance of a close relative in her life, he says.
He also mentions that in the end it is each individual priest who makes the decision as to whether bride handover should be allowed or not.
I’m not in favor of any ban, but I’m not in favor of any coercion either. If, against my experience, there are cases where there is a power play in the background, then it is the responsibility of the wedding priest to say no and refuse on those occasions, says Lööv.
The Church of Sweden needs a policy
Johannes Svanerud stresses that the Church of Sweden would feel good about having a guideline, or a policy on the matter. In this way, the responsibility of deciding whether or not to allow bride handover would not have to rest with each individual priest.
My suggestion is always that the most beautiful thing is that you go in together, and that in this way you mark that you belong together as equal individuals, he says.
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