Honorary Doctorate Awarded to Dr. Antje Jackelén

The University of Greifswald’s Faculty of Theology awards the Archbishop of Uppsala and Primate of the Church of Sweden, Dr. Antje Jackelén, the degree of Doctor of Theology honoris causa. The ceremony for awarding the honorary doctorate took place on 17 November 2016 at the Pomeranian State Museum in Greifswald, the official award ceremony on 18 November 2016 as part of the ceremony to award the academic titles in the University of Greifswald’s Aula.

The Faculty of Theology honours the Archbishop for her important contribution to the dialogue between theology and natural sciences in an international context. Dr. Antje Jackelén gives Protestantism and its academic, reformatory and humanistic heritage an unmistakable public voice of orientation in a situation which is new in many respects to religious history. Dr. Antje Jackelén joins international academic brilliance and a discourse horizon, which crosses the subject boundaries of theology by far, especially in relation to science, with profound piety.

The Faculty also honours Archbishop Dr. Antje Jackelén for her accomplishments regarding the ecumenically justified and contemporary role-defining embodiment of the ethos of an ordained priest, Bishop of Lund and first female Archbishop of Uppsala in the tradition-steeped Church of Sweden and the Lutheranism of the Baltic Sea Region.

Back in July 1923, Greifswald’s Faculty of Theology already bestowed the title of honorary doctor to the Archbishop of Uppsala at that time and Professor of Religious History, Nathan Söderblom. The Faculty of Theology in Greifswald and the University of Greifswald are closely linked with Lund, Uppsala and Sweden at historical, cultural, academic and religious levels. With the bestowal of the honorary doctorate to Archbishop Dr. Antje Jackelén, the Faculty hopes to re-strengthen and further expand academic exchange and bridge building in a changed and absolutely new situation on a political, historical, ecclesiastical and religious front.

Gerhard Ulrich, State Bishop of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of North Germany (Nordkirche), congratulated Archbishop Jackelén in his address during the ceremony on 17November 2016, also on behalf of the Nordkirche: “Two years ago, you said: ‘The challenges of climate change, the crises in the world, the plight of the refugees - all of these problems mean that humans are searching for hope.’ You highlight these perspectives of hope, which the Gospel provides the people of our modern society. You stand up for these chances and approach discourse with the courage to speak clearly. This can be seen during your work as a woman of the Church in church offices at all levels, just as much as in your academic activities. You uphold the demands which are asked of us in the Gospel.”

Career

Dr. Antje Jackelén was born in 1955 in Herdecke (West Germany). In October 2013, the Lutheran theologian was elected Archbishop of the Church of Sweden, after she had been Bishop of Lund (Sweden) for six years. From 2001 to 2003, Dr. Jackelén taught at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (USA) as Professor of Systematic Theology. From 2003 to 2006, she was Director of Chicago’s “Zygon Center for Religion and Science”. In 1999, the mother of two children was awarded a PhD from the University of Lund for the thesis: “Time And Eternity: The Question Of Time In Church, Science And Theology”.