Talk:State church

message: Bhutan is mentioned as a state with state church - see here. Alinor (talk) 13:55, 13 October 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bhutan 

message: I think there's some misinterpretation where "national churches" are being classed as "state churches". The Church of Norway and the Church of Finland have both been disestablished, which means that whilst they are still "national churches" (i.e. aimed at a specific ethnic group), they are no longer "state churches". Burbridge92 (talk) 16:54, 15 September 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: There is considerable misinterpretation and confusion in this whole area. Norway's Church may have been disestablished, but it is still recognised by Law, unlike other denominations. In this sense it is not merely a "National Church", but a "State Church". The same is true of Scotland, where the Church of Scotland is uniquely recognised under Scottish Law. Both should be on this list, according to its own definition in its lead paragraph - "State churches are organizational bodies within a Christian denomination which are given official status or operated by a state." The Church of Norway and the Church of Scotland are not "operated by the State" and are not "Established Churches", but they ARE "given official status" by Law. The fact that the Queen, as Head of State, is Presbyterian (by Law) when in Scotland, makes the Church of Scotland a State Church, regardless of the fact that it is not Established. Timothy Titus Talk To TT 19:29, 23 September 2012 (UTC)

text: Also in Finland the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is (uniquely, Finnish Orthodox Church is given recognition in taxing privileges only) recognised by both the (Finnish) Constitution (§76) and the Church Act of 1993 (which is regulated by the constitution's §76), which contains regulations of how the Church's (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland) governing body is formed, what are the Church's tasks and special privileges and what teachings it recognises. (The Church Act of 1993: http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1993/19931054). Clearly, if a law is put for one church (Ev. Luth. Church of Finland) only (and also given constitutional recognition over other churches and religious communities), and the law regulates the Church's actions that strictly as in Finland, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland clearly is a State Church, as it is given official status in both the law and the constitution, even though it is not operated by state. What is often viewed as the disestablishment of the Church's position as a State Church is the old Constitution (of 1919) which made the government and state "unconfessional", and allowed people to not have to take part in the Church's activities. However, the privileges of the Church still stayed intact, apart from the possibility to force the views to the people (in the Church Act of 1869 the Church's own governing body was formed, thus separated from the state and direct governmental control de jure). The Church still enjoys unique, special privileges under the Constitution and the law while it is not state-operated, it is de facto a State Church as it's given an official status. Also, the new Constitution of 2000 makes the old Constitution of 1919 void of any legal value, and so it does to the claim of "unconfessional" state (it is replaced with individual-level freedom of religion in the new Constitution). Currently, the only laws in place regarding the Church and State and their relationship are the Constitution of 2000 and the Church Act of 1993, which replace the older, and under these the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is given a privileged position (and partially state-assisted, eg. taxing) as an independent church (ie. with its own governing body). Other churches (apart from the taxing privilege of the Finnish Orthodox Church) or other religions aren't mentioned in the Constitution or other laws, which emphasises the special legal position of the Church (as a de facto State Church). --XoravaX (talk) 01:44, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Finland and Norway