St. John's Church () is a church located in the

Norrmalm Norrmalm is a city district in Stockholm, Sweden. History Norrmalm is a part of the larger borough of Norrmalm (''Norrmalms stadsdelsområde''). The southern part of the district, Lower Norrmalm (''Nedre Norrmalm''), also known as the City, ...

district of

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. It was designed by Carl Möller in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style and completed in 1890. In December, 2024 the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden () is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.5 million members at year end 2023, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest List ...

announced the building would be sold to the Catholic Diocese of Stockholm effective immediately.

History

St John's Church started with a wooden chapel built on the site in 1651. In 1883, the architect Carl Möller won a competition to design a permanent stone church on the site. The church was completed in 1890 and was consecrated on

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...

by the

Archbishop of Uppsala The Archbishop of Uppsala (spelled Upsala until the early 20th century) has been the primate of Sweden in an unbroken succession since 1164, first during the Catholic era, and from the 1530s and onward under the Lutheran church. Historical ove ...

Anton Niklas Sundberg Anton Niklas Sundberg (27 May 1818, Uddevalla – 2 February 1900) was a Lutheran clergyman, and the Church of Sweden archbishop of Uppsala 1870–1900. Biography He acquired a doctor of philosophy and theology degree at Uppsala University ...

in the presence of King

Oscar II Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905. Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...

. The church was constructed in neo-gothic style with a tower tall. In 2021, the church had to be closed for renovation after discovery of an eight-ton counterweight that had rusted in the tower. During renovation, the cemetery was cordoned off. The restoration cost was estimated at 43 million

Swedish krona The krona (; plural: ''kronor''; sign: kr; code: SEK) is the currency of Sweden. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use for the krona; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it but, espec ...

, which rose to 226 million SEK and it was stated that St John's would have to be demolished if the money was not raised. It was discovered that the church was built using contemporary modern construction techniques, which meant it was impossible to fully judge the state of the building due to steel structure in the spire being integrated and a counterweight being used similar to ones used in early skyscrapers. Eventually the money for restoration was found but the church was left with a 56 million SEK maintenance debt. During the 21st century, the church had been leased from the Church of Sweden by the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

to minister to Polish Catholics in Sweden. Most Lutherans moved to worship at nearby St Stephen's Church while St John's was being renovated. In 2024, following a decline in worshippers in the Church of Sweden, the church announced that it had been sold to the

Polish Catholic Mission The Polish Catholic Mission, , (PMK) is a permanent Catholic chaplaincy for migrant Poles. It operates in a number of countries under the direction of the Polish Episcopal Conference. England and Wales History The origins of pastoral care for ...

. The sale was made to the Catholics to ensure that the church remained in Christian hands, given a recent tendency of Swedish redundant churches being turned into community centres or breweries. Despite the sale, the bell tower and the church's cemetery would remain property of the Church of Sweden.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Johns Church Stockholm 19th-century Church of Sweden church buildings Churches in Stockholm Churches in the Diocese of Stockholm (Church of Sweden) Churches completed in 1890 Gothic Revival church buildings in Sweden 1890 establishments in Sweden 1890s establishments in Stockholm

History

See also

References

External links