The ski priest who becomes a new bishop – Uppsala

It is four-thirty, and the night falls on Uppsala, wet in November. Karin Johannesson just cuddled cake with her future colleagues in the house of Uppsala Stift in Dragarbrunnsgatan. It's been two hours since she's received the phone call that she was victorious in the crucial second round of the election of the Bishop of Uppsala.

"I was very happy when they called in. It's great," she says.

What kind of bishop will you be?

– I hope for myself. I am happy, positive, analytical and thoughtful. A good team player.

In Sweden, there are 13 pins, each having a bishop as the highest spiritual leader. In Uppsala, the Bishop shares the responsibility of the Uppsala Pole with the Archbishop. Karin Johannesson succeeds the current bishop Ragnar Persenius, who is retiring. On March 3, 2019, the wife of Bishopsvig. The best Sunday of Vasalopps, it turns out.

"It will be my 30th Vasalopp, I have the right to open the previous Monday," Karin Johannesson laughs.

Karin Johannesson comes from Värmland and began studying theology at the University of Uppsala at the age of 18. She had not planned to study for so long, but the philosophy was more exciting than she thought and she is now a lecturer in religious philosophy. As a bishop, she wishes to work for the church to be more daring and discuss only the great philosophical issues of life, whether you are believer or not.

– All these questions that we ask ourselves to be human beings: why are we here on earth? What do I want from my life? In the church of Sweden, there is a unique context for reflection. I would like to contribute to more such discussions in Uppsala Stift, as well as paying attention to all the good initiatives already available and spreading them.

For the need, she says. Karin Johannesson was awarded in 2010 and worked for many years as a ski parish priest in a parish in northern Värmland. While she was walking down the tracks with the word "ski tester" behind the jacket, many had stopped her.

"We were snowy and sweaty and discussed issues they had been thinking about for a long time.Haha, I learned to dress up a bit more on the ski slope so as not to get cold.

The election of the bishop took place in the autumn. It consisted first of all in an election of candidacy, then in a first round and, if it is not more than half of the votes, in a second. In the second round, Karin Johannesson won Karin Sarja with ballots 357-231. Those who voted were priests and deacons in the congregations of the foundations and electoral members representing the members of the congregation.

How do you celebrate that then?

– With something good to eat. Although I would have done anything, to celebrate the end of this long process, says Karin Johannesson.