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Local Pastor Of Swedish Church Claims Jesus Christ Appointed Greta Thunberg As His ‘Successor’

REUTERS/Andrej Ivanov

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Correction: The article originally stated the Church of Sweden made this claim about Thunberg. Limhamns Kyrka, which sent out the tweet, is a local church in the Swedish city of Malmö.

A local church in Sweden claimed that Jesus Christ has appointed teen climate activist Greta Thunberg as “one of his successors” in a December 2018 tweet that has resurfaced on social media.

TOPSHOT - Activist Greta Thunberg attends a press conference where 16 children from across the world, present their official human rights complaint on the climate crisis to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child at the UNICEF Building on September 23, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Kena Betancur / AFP) (Photo credit should read KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images)

(Photo by Kena Betancur / AFP)

“Announcement! Jesus of Nazareth has now appointed one of his successors, Greta Thunberg,” the local church tweeted Dec. 1, 2018. The account, operated by the Limhamns Kyrka, has shared posts about climate change activism before.

The tweet has been rediscovered as Thunberg left her native Sweden on a climate change odyssey that included stops at the United Nations and a climate strike march in Montreal, where she marched with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. (RELATED: Fox News Apologizes After Panelist Calls Greta Thunberg A ‘Mentally Ill Swedish Child’)

Her critics argue that she is being used by the rich and powerful to advance a liberal agenda.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 23: Greta Thunberg speaks at the United Nations (U.N.) where world leaders are holding a summit on climate change on September 23, 2019 in New York City. While the U.S. will not be participating, China and about 70 other countries are expected to make announcements concerning climate change. The summit at the U.N. comes after a worldwide Youth Climate Strike on Friday, which saw millions of young people around the world demanding action to address the climate crisis. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

“My message is that we’ll be watching you,” Thunberg warned the room full of world leaders. “You all come to us young people for hope, how dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words and yet I’m one of the lucky ones … We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you?” (RELATED: Laura Ingraham Compares Greta Thunberg To ‘Children Of The Corn’)

Twitter users reacted to the church’s proclamation with enthusiasm, laughter, or scorn.

“Time and time again I ask myself: when was the Swedish church kidnapped by left-wing extremists?” asked one Twitter user, according to the Washington Examiner.

A local pastor for the church (perhaps formerly) seemed to take responsibility for the post in a tweet that followed up the previous one in question.

“Dear twitter, If we have hurt someone we apologize, it has never been our meaning. Our meaning has been to talk about Jesus Christ in our own way. Now we leave the arena. Thank you for your commitment, joy and debate. God bless you! Jonas Persson, ward pastor.”