Michael Bjerkhagen
Michael Russel Johannes Bjerkhagen born 28 November 1966 in Kandy, Sri Lanka is a Swedish priest. He is pastor of the Royal Court Parish and chaplain to the King of Sweden.He is adopted by Christer Bjerkhagen .
Early life
He left Sri Lanka in July, 1972 when he was 5 years old with his adoptive sister.[1] Both he and hid adoptive sister were at the same orphanage, 'Evelyn Nurseries orphanage' in Kandy.[1] When he was adopted from Sri Lanka he was too young to understand what had happened.
He was adopted by a Swedish childless couple, his father was a Colonel of the Royal Cavalry Regiment and his mother was an economist. along with his adoptive sister. He did not have difficulty in communication with his adoptive parents as he was fluent in English from his childhood as his mother had Burgher descent. His father came from a Buddhist family with a long tradition in Sri Lanka.[1]
He had a prosperous upbringing in Sweden and grew up at a big manor.[1] His family has been equestrian competitors leading him to develop riding skills. He was taught to respect the Throne, the Cross and the Sword (meaning the Monarchy, the Church and the Armed Forces), as well as learning to help others and caring for those who are less fortunate.Ten years after his arrival in Sweden, his family adopted his other sister.[1]
Education
His primary education was at Stenstorp School in the west of Sweden.[1] Then he went to Ålleberg High School in Falköping where he studied both Latin and Greek, which alongside religion studies were his favourite subjects. He had a good singing voice and was a boy soprano before he became a tenor.
After he graduated from high school and finished basic military training he decided to further his studies to become a priest.[1]
He studied to theology at Sweden’s oldest university in Uppsala (founded in 1477) with the intentions of becoming a priest.[1] He also spent a year at an English theological college in Lincoln in Northeastern England.
At Uppsala, his specialist subjects were New Testament Exegesis and classical Greek. Old Testament Exegesis and Hebrew as well as Psychology of Religions and Church History. His other great interests during the study period were ecumenism and the so- necessary dialogue between religions.
In 1990, he took a master's degree in Theology in 1991 was ordained as priest in the Church of Sweden, Diocese of Stockholm, and Stockholm Cathedral. He immediately hired by one of the inner-city congregations St. Johannes, and after that Högalid.
In 2002-2003, he began his graduate studies in Liturgy and Ecumenism at the Pontifical University Angelicum in Rome. He stayed at a home for priests in the Vatican. Hebecame conversant in the Italian language devoted himself to my hobbies: history and archeology.
Personal life
According to Bjerkhagen, his dream since childhood was to become a priest. His parents supported his wish and helped him to become a priest.[1]
He found information about his parents through the Evelyn Nurseries his godparents in Sri Lanka. They helped him to find the details of his parents from the files of the Evelyn Orphanage. He went to Sri Lanka for the first time in the summer 2011 to discover his family.[1]
He was shocked to discover that his parents had died. However, he met his godparents and seven siblings and was happy about it. He spent about 2 weeks with them and came back to Sweden. But since his visit, he thinks about his family and his country and feels that he has two homes; one in Sweden and one in Sri Lanka.[1]
Work as a priest
He was ordained as priest in the Church of Sweden in 1991.[1] In March 2013, he did liturg at the funeral of Princess Lilian and June 8, 2013 one of the two priests at the wedding of Princess Madeleine and Christopher O'Neill[2] and also one of the two priests at the wedding between Prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist June 13, 2015.
He also wants to work for the people of Sri Lanka to share knowledge to help people and to develop his country.[1] One of his causes Father Michael Bjerkhagen is helping orphanages in Sri Lanka. One of them is The St. Johns boys home in Kegalle.[3]
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