Icelandic police inspect priest’s comments on homosexuality

Icelandic police have confirmed that they are examining comments made by a Catholic priest about homosexuality that may violate the country’s laws against conversion therapy.

The Reykjavik police said they would investigate the remarks made by Father Jakob Rolland to Icelandic state broadcaster RÚV in early March, to determine whether criminal proceedings should be opened against the priest who is also the chancellor of the Catholic Church in Iceland.

Rolland, a Frenchman who has been in Iceland for decades and changed his name from Jacques to Jakob to adopt a more Icelandic use of his name, said that members of the LGBTQ community lack help if they wish to “abandon this lifestyle.”

“That is precisely what is lacking in modern society. Those who wish to abandon this lifestyle receive no help,” he said.

In the interview, he said that homosexual people who seek support from the Church “cannot find” psychologists or social workers to help them, and also said that some people have sought out the Church in Iceland in order to “stop” being homosexual.

His comments are being investigated to see whether they violate Iceland’s laws banning conversion therapy related to sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity that were passed in 2023.

Article 227b of the Penal Code criminalizes those who “use tactics such as coercion, deception, or threats to force someone to undergo treatment intended to suppress or alter a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.”

Rolland was asked whether the Church’s methods of guidance and support met the definition of conversion therapy.

“Sexual orientation is only one factor among many that concern an individual’s tendencies towards some lifestyle that is not good for the individual and not good for society,” Rolland replied.

“And ‘conversion’ – change of heart – this is a key word in the daily life of Catholic people. We are constantly in the position of turning away from what is evil towards what is good,” he added.

“Everyone who comes to church has their problems and sins, struggling to some degree with bad tendencies towards something. Everyone is kneeling, sometimes crying before God, before the statue of the Holy Virgin Mary and asking for help. We are all really in the same position,” he said.

Rolland said the support the Church offers mainly consists in participation in the life of worship, including prayer, the sacraments and conversations.

He also affirmed that “all Christians are called to control their sexual impulses according to the moral teachings of the Church, not just homosexual people.”

When asked whether he would follow the country’s laws, the priest said he would “as long as the laws align with God’s laws.”

He has previously said that “there are no organized suppression therapies” and instead emphasized it is “only people talking to each other.”

Criticism

Helga Vala Helgadóttir, one of the sponsors of the bill against conversion therapy, called for a police investigation of Rolland’s comments, one of several prominent voices who criticized his comments.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, one of the small number of Iceland-born Catholics, distanced herself from Rolland’s comments. “I’m sorry if my church is considering breaking the law,” she said.

“I appeal to my church: Don’t get involved in something like this, don’t go against the law, and don’t go against diversity,” she stated.

Bjarndís Helga Tómasdóttir, chairwoman of Samtökin 78, an Icelandic LGBTQ advocacy organization, said of his comments: “This is a crime and should be investigated as such.”

“It’s important to realize that even though he talks about it being just conversations, it is suppression therapy, no matter how organized it is,” she also said.

Sigmundur Ernir Rúnarsson, of the Social Democratic Alliance, raised the issue in the Alþingi (Parliament).

“What is the message to gay and lesbian people in the country? What is the message to their families? What is the message to their allies? What is the message to all Icelanders who want to live in a free and democratic society that believes in human rights and enacts laws to ensure human rights?” he asked.

In 2022, there were approximately 14,000 Catholics in Iceland, many of them being immigrants from countries such as Poland.

Rolland courted controversy in 2019 when he told a journalist: “If two women came to us and wanted to marry, then I’d say, ‘Unfortunately, that won’t work for us.’ If they wanted to press charges, I’d say, ‘Do it.’ If I go to prison, then I go to prison, but it won’t change my position.”