The Swedish Lutheran church, which separated from the state in 2000, said it was open to registering same-sex unions, though it wanted to reserve the term matrimony for heterosexual marriages.

The church already performs blessing ceremonies for gay couples who have registered partnerships with civil authorities, but the ceremony does not carry legal status on its own.

"The Church of Sweden ... is also prepared to register partnerships in the future," Bishop Claes-Bertil Ytterberg said in a statement.

A government-appointed committee on Sweden's marriage and partnership legislation is due to present its findings on March 21 and local media have reported that it will propose that gay couples be allowed marriage on the same terms as heterosexuals.

The decision to bless homosexual unions in 2005 by the church council, a body consisting of top clergy and elected lay members, was met with protests from conservatives, despite Sweden's reputation as one of the world's most secular countries.

The Swedish church ordained its first woman priest in 1960 and Pope John Paul II cancelled an audience with former Archbishop K.G. Hammarwith in 1998 because of his pro-gay position.

Fifty percent of Swedish couples get married in church, though church attendance is very low.