NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      STOCKHOLM, Sweden (CWNews.com) - Pope John Paul II named a new bishop for Sweden, the first Swede to lead Catholics in the country since the Reformation.

      Bishop-elect Anders Arborelius will succeed German-born Bishop Hubertus Brandenburg as leader of the diocese of Stockholm which covers the entire country. The bishop-elect was born in Switzerland to Swedish parents and grew up in the Swedish city of Lund.

      After the Reformation in the 1500s and until 1860, no native Swedes were allowed to be Catholic. Today, only about 165,000 people -- about 2 percent of the population -- are Catholic and most priests are foreigners.