# Sweden closes churches to meet climate change goals

By Jessica Barshis · Published 2025-01-09 · News & Analysis › World · https://humanevents.com/news/sweden-closes-churches-to-meet-climate-change-goals

> These goals included being fossil-free by 2027.

The Church of [Sweden](https://humanevents.com/2024/09/17/sweden-offers-immigrants-34000-to-leave-amid-migrant-crisis) has closed seven churches in Gotland from the Middle Ages that are heated with oil in order to meet climate goals.

These goals included being fossil-free by 2027 at the latest, per Swedish radio station [Sverige](https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/nu-stangs-kyrkor-for-att-klara-klimatmalen). The pastorate at Romakloster (Roma Abbey), which contains Cisterian ruins built in the 12th century, cited a lack of funds to switch to environmentally friendly heating as the reason for closing them down between October 2024 and May 2025 so that the churches do not have to be heated before services. The churches are so old that they must be run on oil with the way they are built.

"People are disappointed, but I don't really know what else to do," said Mathias Eldnor, cemetery and property manager for Romakloster's rectory.

Peter Imanuelsen, who runs the site Peter Sweden, [explained](https://www.petersweden.org/p/sweden-closing-churches-to-meet-climate) that the Church of Sweden is "very progressive" and has encouraged the use of [gender](https://humanevents.com/2024/11/14/swedens-gender-equality-minister-suffers-from-phobia-of-bananas-refuses-to-have-them-anywhere-near-her-report)-neutral language when referring to God. "Now they are essentially engaging in climate lockdowns. Seems to me that the woke climate cult religion is more important for them now than Christianity," he said.

Followers of Christ News [reports](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYKuq5L_9P4) that over 1,127 free churches in Sweden have closed since 2000, which is "slightly more than one per week for the last 20 years."