STOCKHOLM — Sweden’s Lutheran Church said Wednesday it was in favor of allowing same-sex couples to wed in church but recommended that the term “marriage” be reserved for heterosexual unions.

The position of the Church, which has 7.2 million members out of a population of 9.1 million, had been solicited by the government as it prepares a bill on a new “gender neutral” marriage law that it hopes to present to parliament early next year.

“Marriage and (same-sex) partnerships are equivalent forms of unions. Therefore the Church of Sweden’s central board says yes to the proposal to join the legislation for marriages and partnerships into a single law,” the Church said in a statement.

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