Per Ragnar Theodor Persenius (born 27 June 1952) was the
Bishop of Uppsala from 2000 till his retirement in 2019. He previously headed the
Church of Sweden's Department of Theology and Ecumenism.
Biography
The son of Walter Persenius, pastor of
Ullånger, he was born in
Uppsala and grew up in
Jämtland
Jämtland (; no, Jemtland or , ; Jamtish: ''Jamtlann''; la, Iemptia) is a historical province () in the centre of Sweden in northern Europe. It borders Härjedalen and Medelpad to the south, Ångermanland to the east, Lapland to the north a ...
and
Härjedalen. After attending Fjellstedtska School in Uppsala, he studied law, philosophy and theology, receiving a doctorate from
Lund University in 1988.
Ordained in 1973, he first served as parish priest of
Bro (1973–1976) before becoming educational advisor for the
Diocese of Uppsala
The Archdiocese of Uppsala ( sv, Uppsala ärkestift) is one of the thirteen dioceses of the Church of Sweden and the only one having the status of an archdiocese.
Lutheran archdiocese
Uppsala is the seat of the Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala. Th ...
(1977–1980). Other appointments have included Parish Priest of Norrstrand,
Karlstad
Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 65,856 inhabitants in 2020 with 95,167 inhabitants ...
, Church Secretary for Uppsala, the
Church of Sweden's director for theological affairs, and head of its theology and ecumenism department (1993–1998). Before his ordination as bishop, he headed the Stora Sköndal Foundation in Stockholm.
[
Persenius lives with his wife Ingrid in a house near Uppsala Cathedral. He has a daughter, Susanna, but his son Martin died after a lengthy illness in 2007, causing him severe grief but reinforcing his faith. He came second in the elections for Archbishop of Uppsala in 2006 but is encouraging wider participation of candidates for the next elections in spring 2014. He likes to relax at his summer house in Söderhamn where he can paint, build and shovel snow.Josefin Lilja, "Biskopen som ser människors längtan"]
''Dagen'', 8 April 2013. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
Published works
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References
External links
"Biskop Ragnar" Persenius' blog since October 2012.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Persenius, Ragnar
Swedish Lutheran bishops
1952 births
Living people
People from Uppsala