The Church of Sweden apology for its role in the work cottages that affected Tornedalians, Kvens and Lantalaiset was delivered during a reconciliation service in Luleå Cathedral on 10 May 2026, marking another step in Sweden’s reckoning with assimilation policies against northern minorities.
A church apology centred on Meänkieli and memory
The service was held in Swedish and Meänkieli as part of Askel sovinthoon — “steps towards reconciliation” — a process carried out by the Church of Sweden and the Swedish Tornedalians’ National Association – Tornionlaaksolaiset (Svenska Tornedalingars Riksförbund – Tornionlaaksolaiset, STR-T). It followed a series of gatherings held in Norrbotten in 2025 to acknowledge the Church’s role in the former work cottages.
Archbishop Martin Modéus read the apology together with representatives of the Diocese of Luleå. “Reconciliation takes time. Therefore we offer this apology without any expectation of response or forgiveness,” Modéus said during the service, according to SVT.
The ceremony brought together former pupils, relatives and representatives of minority organisations. According to the Church of Sweden, about 330 people took part in the service, either in Luleå Cathedral or online. Testimonies from former pupils and their families were read aloud, placing personal memory at the centre of the reconciliation process.
What happened in Sweden’s work cottages
The work cottages in Sweden were institutions active in Norrbotten during the first half of the 20th century. They were established to make schooling possible for children who lived far from school or in difficult economic conditions. In practice, they also became part of a wider system of Swedification, directed at minorities such as Tornedalians, Kvens and Lantalaiset.
According to the Church of Sweden, there were 21 work cottages in Norrbotten, where around 5,500 children stayed between 1903 and 1954. Many children were separated from their homes, languages and cultural environment. In the cottages, children could be forbidden to speak their mother tongue, including Meänkieli, and were exposed to humiliation, punishment and degrading treatment.
The testimonies read during the reconciliation service described a childhood shaped by fear and loss rather than protection. One woman, recounting her father’s experience, said: “You were not allowed to be a child there.” Other accounts referred to shame, physical punishment and the long-term effects of being denied language and identity.
The Church’s role was not marginal. Modéus said the Church of Sweden was responsible for the structure itself and was therefore a central part of a system that caused deep suffering for many people.
Tornedalians, Kvens and Lantalaiset in Sweden’s truth process
The apology follows the work of Sweden’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Tornedalians, Kvens and Lantalaiset. The commission, established by the Swedish Government in 2020, examined violations and abuses linked to assimilation policies in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its final report, presented in 2023, concluded that the Swedish state and the Church of Sweden carry responsibility for policies that contributed to language loss, invisibility and shame among the minority.
Tornedalians, Kvens and Lantalaiset are linked to the Torne Valley and northern Sweden. Meänkieli is one of Sweden’s recognised national minority languages and remains a key part of the community’s cultural identity. For many families, however, the legacy of assimilation meant that language was not transmitted across generations.
This is why the use of Meänkieli during the service was not only symbolic. It placed a language once suppressed in the work cottages at the centre of public acknowledgement.
A Nordic reckoning with assimilation policies
The Church of Sweden apology also fits into a broader Nordic reassessment of historical policies toward minorities and Indigenous peoples. Sweden has already seen reconciliation processes involving the Church and the Sámi, while Norway and Finland have also examined the impact of state-led assimilation on Sámi, Kven and other minority communities.
These processes challenge the image of the Nordic countries as welfare states built only on inclusion and equality. They show how institutions that presented themselves as protective — schools, churches and welfare structures — could also become tools of cultural suppression when minority children were denied their language, family ties and identity.
For STR-T and the affected communities, the apology is not a final settlement. It is a public acknowledgement of responsibility and a step in a longer process involving memory, education and institutional accountability. The next test will be whether Sweden’s public institutions turn that acknowledgement into sustained work on language rights, historical knowledge and minority recognition.
