Sweden’s Christian Council has frozen the Swedish branch of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate out of its membership.
The board approved the step on 17 September and published it on 1 October. In effect, the council is only putting on record a break that has already held since 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The board said it had to act if the council was to remain an independent voice for its churches, keep other members secure and protect public trust in its work.
Cooperation, it added, became untenable once the war began, given both the invasion and the close ties between the Russian state and the Moscow Patriarchate.
While the suspension stands, the parish cannot join the council’s work, draw on money passed through it or take part in its decisions. Only the board can reverse the measure.
The decision also rests on rule changes adopted at an extraordinary general meeting in 2026. Member churches must now back the council’s commitments on human dignity, peace, democracy, non-discrimination and respect for others. The meeting also armed the board with new powers, including the right to suspend a church.
Sweden’s security service, Säpo, had already said Moscow uses the Russian Orthodox Church for activity that threatens national security, including influence efforts inside the country. In 2024 the state agency that funds faith communities cut support to the parish on the same grounds.
The Moscow Patriarchate’s church has been present in Sweden since 1992 and sat on the Christian Council from 1999. Figures from 2021 put it at eight parishes and roughly 1,400 faithful, among them communities in Stockholm, Malmö, Gothenburg, Västerås and Umeå.
