'21 
their own ministers, who must be recognized by the government, The 
free church congregation in Reykjavik is by far the largest of the three. 
Iceland forms one bishopric with its see in Reykjavik. Besides the 
bishop there are two vice-bishops, one for each of the two dioceses 
into which the country was divided of old. The vice-bishops ordain 
clergymen in the absence of the bishop proper, and one of them can 
consecrate an entering bishop, in case the one retiring cannot himself 
perform the ceremony. The office of a vice-bishop is an honorary of- 
fice, held by a clergyman doing ordinary clerical work besides. The 
country is divided into 20 deaneries, each presided over by a dean. 
The number of livings is 106, some of them including more than two 
parishes. The total number of parishes is 272. : 
Candidates for the priesthood must now, as a rule, have taken s 
theological degree at the university of Iceland. Clergymen are chosen 
by a secret voting on the part of such of the parishioners as are of 
age (21 years old) and of blameless reputation. At a parochial election, 
where more than one-half of the parishioners have voted, the candi- 
date who gets more than one-half of the votes cast is called duly 
elected. If, on the other hand, none of the candidates polls the re- 
quired number of votes, the government may disregard the election, 
and appoint to the office any candidate recommended by the bishop. 
Deans and vice-bishops are appointed by the government under the 
advice "of the clergy of the deanery or diocese in question, while a 
bishop is chosen in the following manner: All the clergymen and the 
theological professors in the university propose three candidates each 
for the office, and the one who receives the greatest number of votes 
is elected, provided at least three-fifths of the votes cast are given for 
him. In the event of none of them obtaining the required number, the 
Ministry of Church Affairs shall appoint to the see the one of the 
three who polls the greatest number of votes. 
The clergymen are paid out of the Prestlaunasiédur (Clergymen’s 
Salaries Fund) which is made up partly of the income derived from 
Church Rates, i. e. 1.5 krénur payable by every parishioner of 15 years 
and over; partly of rents paid by tenants of church estates; and part- 
ly of the interest of the Church Estates Fund, that is, of the inter- 
est on the money realized by the sale of church lands. In so far as 
the Funds own receipts do not suffice to cover the annual expen- 
diture, they are supplemented by a grant from the State, which in 
1928 amounted to 247 000 krénur. 
Everv parish has its congregational council, composed of 3 or 5 mem-