Priests will perform same-sex marriages in Sweden for the first time beginning Nov. 1.

The board of the Church of Sweden decided overwhelmingly in a 176-62 vote to approve the marriages in new gender-neutral church ceremonies.

Sweden's archbishop, Anders Wejryd, is supportive of the church's move calling it "the right decision."
    
This comes after a new law was introduced last May to give homosexual couples the same marriage rights as heterosexuals. Gay couples were granted "partnership rights" after the Parliament voted in their favor.

The Church of Sweden is the nation's largest Lutheran church.