A historic Swedish church embraces inclusion with minority languages

KIRUNA, Sweden (AP) — The members of Kiruna Church primarily worship in Swedish, their country’s main language.

But this Lutheran church some 200 kilometers (120 miles) above the Arctic Circle seeks to incorporate the region's minority languages — Northern Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli – into worship services, carrying on an inclusive ethos that has been a cornerstone of the historic wooden church since its founding in 1912.

“We are talking about the language of the heart,” vicar Lena Tjärnberg said. “That’s very important, that you can hear some of the words in your language.”

The church, called Kiruna Kyrka in Swedish, moved 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) east on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of Kiruna's relocation because the world’s largest underground iron-ore mine is threatening to swallow the town. The church closed its doors a year ago in preparation for the move.

The inclusion of the minority languages — particularly the Northern Sami language with Kiruna's population of Indigenous people, including reindeer herders — reflects the church's history. The building itself was a gift to Kiruna from state-owned mining company LKAB, whose manager in the early 1900s decided that the entire community should feel welcome there even if they are not Lutheran.

Its exterior was designed to emulate the Sami style, and there is only one cross in the entire structure to avoid an overemphasis on Christianity. And a 1912 altarpiece painted by Prince Eugen, a member of the Swedish royal family and a renowned landscape artist, features a sunlit forest grove to represent nature as spiritual instead of the traditional religious scenes.

On Wednesday, the church settled into its new, safer home in Kiruna's revamped downtown. Worshippers are expected to be back inside by the end of next year, in a return to the pews that have carried the smell of tar to preserve the historic wood for generations.

While the Kiruna Church currently has a good relationship with the Sami people, historically the Church of Sweden was complicit in Sweden's racist campaign against Europe's only recognized Indigenous people.

The Sami culture, traditions and languages were suppressed for decades. Beginning in 1913, the church and state ran so-called “nomad schools,” mandatory segregated boarding schools where Sami children experienced racism, bullying and abuse until the 1960s.

In 2021, the archbishop delivered the first of two formal apologies to the Sami people for the Church of Sweden's role in oppressing them.

“Within the Church of Sweden, Sami spirituality was despised. Instead of recognizing the image of God in our Sami sisters and brothers, we tried to remake them in the image of the majority culture,” Archbishop Antje Jackelén said at the time. “We did not see your obvious relationship with the Creator and with the lands. We did not understand that Sami spirituality expresses itself in everyday actions.”

A truth commission, set up by the Swedish government in 2021, is expected to address the nomad schools’ lasting trauma on the Sami people and conclude its work by Dec. 1.

On a typical Sunday, 40 to 50 people sat in the pews — though more always crowd inside for weddings and funerals.

Anna-Kristina Simma, a worshipper who is a member of the Sami people and grew up going to the Kiruna Church, said it is a mainstay in everyone's life in this part of Swedish Lapland, even if they aren't going to weekly services.

“You start from when you were a child, a baby, all your life until you get old," she said.

Monica Nutti Blind, a deacon in the church who also is a member of the Sami people, said the church's architecture reminds her of the area's seasons. The dark wood inside is like the long, dark northern Swedish winters, she said, but the windows allow the summer's Midnight Sun to brighten everything.

“If you look up in the church, you see the light that reminds of spring and the light and the vegetation,” she said.

On Sunday, two days before the move began, the church held a lakeside service 87 kilometers (54 miles) northeast of its historic location.

With a fire burning to keep the bugs away, six worshippers bundled up in hiking boots, long coats and hats to keep warm amid temperatures hovering around 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit).

The small summer congregation, seated on wooden benches or camping chairs, sang from hymnals and listened to Nutti Blind as she read a passage from the Book of Proverbs in the Northern Sami language. The verse reminded the community of its responsibility to be good neighbors.

But before the 35-minute service concluded — with an early fika, the traditional Swedish coffee break — the worshippers paused to reflect upon the upcoming move. Nutti Blind offered a prayer, this time in Swedish, for their spiritual home's safety.

“We pray for the move of the Kiruna Church, that the church will be preserved and that the move goes well,” she prayed. “And that we once again will use this beautiful church.”

Pietro De Cristofaro in Kiruna, Sweden, contributed to this report.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

FILE - People gather outside the Kiruna Church, a Sami style wooden Swedish Lutheran church, called Kiruna Kyrka in Swedish, in Kiruna, Sweden, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, during its move along a 5-kilometer (3-mile) route east to a new city center as part of the town's relocation. (AP Photo/Malin Haarala, File)

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf speaks to media next to the Kiruna Church, a Sami style wooden Swedish Lutheran church, called Kiruna Kyrka in Swedish, in Kiruna, Sweden, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, after the completion of its move along a 5-km. (3-mile) route east to a new city center as part of the town's relocation.(AP Photo/Malin Haarala)

A person handles a hymnal during an outdoor prayer for the move of the Kiruna Church, a Sami style wooden Swedish Lutheran church, called Kiruna Kyrka in Swedish, in Kiruna, Sweden, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, two days before its move along a 5-kilometer (3-mile) route east to a new city center as part of the town's relocation. (AP Photo/Malin Haarala)

People hold an outdoor prayer for the move of the Kiruna Church, a Sami style wooden Swedish Lutheran church, called Kiruna Kyrka in Swedish, in Kiruna, Sweden, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, two days before its move along a 5-kilometer (3-mile) route east to a new city center as part of the town's relocation. (AP Photo/Malin Haarala)

Construction machinery is parked next to the Kiruna Church, a Sami style wooden Swedish Lutheran church, called Kiruna Kyrka in Swedish, in Kiruna, Sweden, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, after the completion of its move along a 5-km. (3-mile) route east to a new city center as part of the town's relocation.(AP Photo/Malin Haarala)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.

The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.

Presidents have invoked the law more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.

Trump has repeatedly toyed with the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act, starting in his first term, but hasn't followed through. In 2020, for example, he threatened to use the act to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police.

“I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on X.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would challenge any such action in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says officers have arrested more than 2,500 people since Nov. 29 as part of an immigration operation in the Twin Cities called Metro Surge.

The operation grew when ICE sent 2,000 officers and agents to the area early in January. ICE is a DHS agency.

In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.

Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.

“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people who said they were questioned or detained in recent days. The lawsuit says two are Somali and one is Hispanic; all three are U.S. citizens. The lawsuit seeks an end to what the ACLU describes as a practice of racial profiling and warrantless arrests. The government did not immediately comment.

Similar lawsuits have been filed in Los Angeles and Chicago and despite seeing initial success, have tended to fizzle in the face of appeal. In Chicago, for example, last year a judge ordered a senior U.S. Border Patrol official to brief her nightly following a lawsuit by news outlets and protesters who said agents used too much force during demonstrations. But three days later, an appeals court stopped the updates.

Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.

Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.

“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.

Police chief Brian O’Hara said the man who was shot did not have a life-threatening injury. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security, which later said the other two men were also in the U.S. illegally from Venezuela.

The FBI said several government vehicles were damaged and property inside was stolen when agents responded to the shooting. Photos show broken windows and insults made with paint. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information. The FBI’s Minneapolis office did not immediately reply to messages seeking more details.

St. Paul Public Schools, with more than 30,000 students, said it would begin offering an online learning option for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school. Schools will be closed next week until Thursday to prepare for those accommodations.

Minneapolis Public Schools, which has a similar enrollment, is also offering temporary remote learning. The University of Minnesota will start a new term next week with different options depending on the class.

Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. and Golden reported from Seattle. Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Rebecca Santana in Washington; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.

Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Law enforcement officers at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

A woman covers her face from tear gas as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

A protester throws back a tear gas canister during a protest after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez, second from left, blows a whistle with other activists to warn people of federal immigration officers Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A child and family are escorted away after federal law enforcement deployed tear gas in a neighborhood during protests on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

A protester holds an umbrella as sparks fly from a flash bang deployed by law enforcement on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Monica Travis shares an embrace while visiting a makeshift memorial for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)