Bishop Ingeborg Midttømme made headlines in many newspapers when in 2015 she refused to ordain the lesbian priest Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen. Despite a large shortage of priests, and even though the church noise itself wanted the 35-year-old as a priest, the bishop in Møre said no. Today, Møre diocese made a historic decision. From now on, priests looking for a job in Møre will no longer be asked who they are most in love with: “Formulation in notice texts about cohabitation will for the future be removed”. – That was about time! It is a wording that does not fit in an announcement text. The church needs skilled priests who can spread God’s love and meet people with respect and care. This can be done regardless of gender or sexual identity, says Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen. She is very happy with the decision in the Møre diocese, seven years after the drama surrounding her own priesthood. Møre diocese council will consider the question of the text of the announcement in job advertisements again on Monday. Photo: Terje Reite / news The bishop turns around after having “worked on the question” Bishop Ingeborg Midttømme says he is now open to homosexuals also being able to apply for positions in Møre. This has not always been the case. Midttømme says it is easy to be in hindsight, and that the situation was completely different when she said no to ordaining Pedersen-Eriksen in 2015. – I have worked on the question and internalized how the gospel has not come forward because other things have called for it much stronger, said the Møre bishop during the debate. She says the wording in the job adverts has caused anxiety and pain for other people, and that she can no longer stand for it. – I hope it can reach someone who has not felt respected and valued for who they are, says Midttømme. Bishop Ingeborg Midttømme during the meeting on Monday. Photo: Terje Reite / news Would continue as before A small minority of two still wanted the diocesan council and the bishop to ask applicants for the priesthood who they live with. But the proposal was voted down by eight votes to two. – It is about much more than a job advertisement. It is very strange that we cannot make demands on someone who will be shepherds and priests in the Church of Norway, said Rikke Elisabeth Grevstad Kopperstad. But this view was not heard, and thus it is only in Stavanger that the diocese still insists on the wording in job advertisements. In recent years, it has disappeared in more and more places, even though the Equality and Discrimination Ombudsman has previously concluded that discrimination against homosexuals in religious communities is not a breach of the Equality Act. Doubts that she will come back Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen is now a sailor’s chaplain in Copenhagen, has remarried and says she is very happy. She says she knows other gay priests who have refused to apply in Møre, but says she now wants to encourage them to try again. Even she doubts that she will make another attempt. – The experience in 2015 remains, and still hurts. So I’m probably still hesitant to apply to Møre, despite what they have now decided, she says.
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Now the Møre bishop will no longer ask who the priest lives with – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
