“Vi har ingen röst i Svenska kyrkan…” : – En kvalitativ studie om kristna migranters upplevelser av rasism inom Svenska kyrkan

The aim of this study is to explore whether Christian migrants from the Middle East have experienced racism within the Swedish Church and to analyze the types of racism they have encountered, based on Anders Hellström's five definitions of racism. The study is based on ten interviews with Christian migrants from the Middle East who are or have been active in 14 different congregations across four pastoral districts in a diocese in Sweden. An abductive approach with clear deductive elements and qualitative content analysis were applied to address the research questions. The results indicate a mixed response from the migrants regarding their personal experiences of racism within the church. Four of the ten informants state that they have not experienced racism, but simultaneously report instances of racism within the church. However, all ten informants mention that they have at least seen or heard of instances of racism directed at Christian migrants from the Middle East. They point to church staff as the primary source of this racism, where personnel use their authority to subject migrants to racism. The study identifies several forms of racism, including systematic exclusion, racism in the name of integration, invisible and silent racism, an additional vulnerability that perpetuates and reproduces racism and everyday racism, which also describes various situations where migrants experience racism, including diaconal receptions, church narthexes, services, rental of premises, church kitchens, and during coffee hours. These experiences highlight an overarching "racism through power," where all racism experienced by migrants is linked to power dynamics. The analysis suggests that the migrants experiences of racism encompass four of Hellström's five definitions: "neo-racism," "postcolonial racism," "institutional racism" and "everyday racism". The fifth definition, “biological racism”, in the strict sense, is not present. However, ideas that resemble or echo "biological racism" do emerge in the study. Despite limitations and restricted generalizability, the goal of the study is to raise awareness of the racism that Christian migrants may encounter within Swedish Church congregations, initiate discussions within the church and the academic community, and provide a platform for the voices and experiences of migrants to be heard.