Indigenous Religion Receives State Recognition

November 5, 2003

Source: Beliefnet.com

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/135/story_13544_1.html

On November 5, 2003 Beliefnet.com posted an Associated Press article that reported, "Denmark said...it will let a group that worships Thor, Odin and other Norse gods conduct legally-recognized marriages. 'To me, it would be wrong if the indigenous religion of this country wasn't recognized,' Tove Fergo, the minister for Ecclesiastic Affairs and a Lutheran priest, told The Associated Press. Under Danish law, the state Evangelical Lutheran Church has sole authority to recognize other religious communities. The 240-member Forn Sidr, which worships Odin, Thor, Freya and the other members of the Norse pantheon, sought recognition in 1999, said Tissel Jacobsen, the group's president. Last year, an Ecclesiastic Affairs panel of scholars recommended that Forn Sidr, whose name means 'Old Custom' in old Norse, be approved, but only if their rituals were clearly detailed in its bylaws."