Icelandic Civic Movement MPs Renounce Mass in Cathedral

Three out of four MPs of the Civic Movement boycotted the traditional mass in the Cathedral in Reykjavík before a new parliamentary session begins in May and instead waited on Austurvöllur parliamentary square.

 

“We don’t think it’s appropriate to mix religion and parliamentary work and we don’t condone that the first thing that the MPs do when they reconvene is to go to mass together,” MP for the Civic Movement Birgitta Jónsdóttir told Fréttabladid.

The other two MPs from her party who did not to attend the mass are Thór Saari and Margrét Tryggvadóttir, while the fourth, Thráinn Bertelsson, joined the rest of the parliament and went for the mass. However, according to Jónsdóttir, there are a few MPs from other parties who also refrained from attending the Cathedral mass.

“But usually people have just hidden inside parliament if they don’t go to the Cathedral. We are just being forthright about the matter. There are so many traditions that perhaps aren’t appropriate today.”

Sidmennt, the association of ethical humanists in Iceland, organised a talk and invited MPs to attend a think piece by philosopher Jóhann Björnsson at Hótel Borg before parliament reconvenes, instead of the mass. Björnsson talked about the importance of good morality in the interest of the nation.

http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=16539&ew_0…