Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland

As part of the Church of Sweden (1554-1809)

In 1156, the Catholic Abo diocese was created, in 1554 it became Lutheran, in the same year the Vyborg diocese was founded, in 1723 after most of its territory was transferred to Russia and subordinated to the Vyborg Consistory , the rest of it was transformed into the Borgos diocese .

In the Russian Empire and in the Grand Duchy of Finland (1721-1917)

After the accession of Old Finland to Russia in 1721, the Vyborg Consistory was created from part of the Vyborg diocese of the Church of Sweden . On the territories of Finland newly joined in 1743, the Friedrichsgam Consistory was established. These church structures were not part of the Church of Sweden and were subordinate to the Consistorial meeting of the Justits College of Livonia, Estland and Finland affairs, established in 1734 ^[3] .

In 1809, after the accession of Swedish Finland to Russia, the Abbas and Borgos dioceses were separated from the Church of Sweden and formed the ELCF. In 1812, after the Swedish and Old Finland ( Vyborg province ) were united into the Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire, the Vyborg and Friedrichsgam Consistorial districts were annexed to the church, which became part of the Borgo diocese. Since 1817, the Abos bishop bore the title of Archbishop. By 1812, there were 503 Lutheran parishes in Finland ^[4] . The Uleaborg diocese was created in 1851, the ELTsF synod was created in 1868, in 1884 the Apostolic succession was suppressed due to the death of all bishops this year and the ordination of the next archbishop by Professor A. Granfelt ^[5] , and the Neishlot diocese was created in 1897 .

ELCF in the Republic of Finland (since 1917)

The Diocese of Tampere was created in 1923, in 1924 the episcopal chair was moved from Savonlinna to Vyborg, in 1934 apostolic succession was restored in 1934 from the Swedish and Anglican bishops ^[6] . In 1939 the Kuopio diocese was founded, in 1939 the Vyborg bishop moved to Mikkeli , in 1944 the High Church Council of the ELTsF was created, in 1959 the dioceses were established in Lapua and Helsinki , in 1994 they were diocesan assemblies were created, and in the 2000s and 2010s, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland enlarged the parishes: only in 2008-2015 the number of its parishes decreased from 515 to 412 ^[4] ; In 2004, the diocese was established in Espoo .

The ELCF has an episcopal management system with individual elements of the presbyterially synodal. The head of Finnish Lutherans is the archbishop of Turku Tapio Luoma (since June 2018), with representative bodies operating - the local cathedral ( Finnish kirkolliskokous , Swedish kyrkomötet ) (since 1868) and the episcopal cathedral ( Finnish piispainkokous , Swedish biskopsmöte ) and executive organ - the highest church council ( Finnish. kirkkohallitus , Swede. kyrkostyrelse ) (since 1944).

ELCF is divided into dioceses ( Fin. Hiippakunta , Swedish. Stift ), dioceses for probation ( Fin. Rovastikunta , Swedish. Prosteri ), probation for parishes ( Fin. Seurakunta , Swedish. Församling ) (pastors ( Fin. Pastoraatti , Swedish. Pastorat ) and chapels ( Fin. Kappeliseurakunta , Swede. Kapellförsamling )).

Dioceses

The church consists of 9 dioceses. Since 1998, the Archdiocese of Turku has had two bishops - the Archbishop of Turku, who is considered the head of the diocese and directly administers the parishes of Turku and Naantali districts, and the bishop of Turku, who directly administers the remaining parishes. Also, since 1941 there has been a “military bishop” who exercises control over military chaplains in the ranks of the country's army (and not only Lutheran, but also Orthodox ) and is a member of the Synod of Bishops, but not officially consecrated to the episcopal rank, and thus has no right ordinations of priests. Dioceses are headed by bishops ( Finnish piispa , Swede. Biskop ), under which there are cathedral chapters ( Finnish. Tuomiokapituli , Swede. Domkapitel ) and representative bodies of the dioceses - diocesan councils ( Finnish. Hiippakuntavaltuusto ) (since 2004, in 1994-2004. - Diocesan Assembly ( Hiippakuntakokous )).

Deanery

Deaneries are headed by deans ( fin. Lääninrovasti , Swede. Kontraktsprost ).

Parishes

Pastors are headed by the priors ( Finnish. Kirkkoherra , Swedish. Kyrkoherde ) with several presbyters ( Finnish. Pappi , Swedish. Präst ), representative bodies of the parishes - parish meetings ( Finnish. Kirkkovaltuusto , Swedish. Kyrkofullmäktige ) and executive bodies - parish councils ( . kirkkoneuvosto , fin. kyrkoråd ) ^[7] .

Parishes (chapels)

The chapels are headed by chaplains ( Fin. Kappalainen , Swede. Kaplan ), under which the executive bodies of the chapels are acting - the chapel councils ( Fin. Kappelineuvoston , Swede. Kapellråd ).

Military parishes

The military parishes are subordinate to the field bishop ( Kenttäpiispa , Fältbiskopen ) and field- probst ( Kenttärovasti , Fältprost ), the military parishes were led by military pastors ( Sotilaspastori , Militärpastor ).

Financing

The activities of the church are financed by the state through a special church tax levied on both individuals and legal entities. Since January 2012, church tax has increased in 37 parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Tax growth is moderate, it ranged from 0.1 to 0.15 percentage units. Most of all, the tax increased in the municipality of Humppila , where the tax rose by 0.3% and as a result amounted to 1.9% ^[8] . However, since 2013, the church began to experience significant economic difficulties ^[9] .

The main rites of the church are: baptism , communion , confirmation (at the age of 15), wedding , funeral .

Currently, 76.4% of Finns ( 2012 ) are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland ( 2012 ) ^[2] . According to studies by Radio Dei and the ELTsF Research Center, 2% of church employees do not believe in the existence of the devil at all , 4% consider this to be unbelievable, and 68% of employees acknowledge its existence (as a whole, in 2011, 31 believed in the existence of the devil % of the population) ^[10] . There is also an internal schism at the ELCF related to the activities of the conservative wing of the Luther Foundation. In Sweden, bypassing the Finnish archbishop, Matti Vääsänen was ordained a bishop, who was immediately deprived of pastoral dignity in Finland. Nevertheless, Matti Väisänen continued his work as a bishop and ordained a number of pastors for the conservative bloc ^[11] .

Question of the female priesthood

Despite the fact that the female priesthood was approved in the structure of the church in 1986 (the first ordinances were carried out in March 1988 ^[12] ), and in 2013 the number of female pastors is estimated at almost 50%, the question of the woman’s place in the church hierarchy remains open. For women pastors in the 1980s , designer Vuokko Eskelin-Nurmesniemi developed special uniforms that were replaced on June 14, 2011 with a new version designed by fashion designer Kirsimari Kärkkäinen. ^[13] According to the decision of the Supreme Court of the Court, opponents of women’s priests do not have the right to refuse to cooperate with a female priest ^[14] .

In March 2007, Pastor Ari Norro refused to celebrate Mass with female pastor Petra Pohyanraito at the Hyvinkää Church, which led to a lawsuit. In October 2010, the Finnish Supreme Court issued a guilty verdict in the case with the verdict that “religious beliefs cannot justify labor discrimination on the basis of sex” and sentenced pastor Ari Norro to a fine ^[15] .

At the same time, on June 3, 2010, female pastor Irya Askola , who became the first female bishop in Finland’s history, won the election for the post of bishop of Helsinki. Her ordination on September 12, 2010 was made by the newly elected head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, Archbishop Kari Myakinen . In her sermon, Bishop Irya Askola raised, in particular, the issue of the status of women ^[16] .

The election of the first female bishop in Finland was welcomed by the General Secretary of the World Lutheran Federation, Ishmael Noko. ^[17]

The Catholic Church in Finland, represented by Bishop Teemu Sippo, expressed regret over the election of the first female bishop. In an interview with the newspaper Kotimaa (Homeland), Teemu Sippo stated that “the election of Irya Askol as bishop of Finland further alienates church communities from each other” ^[18] .

The issue of LGBT rights

The Lutheran Church of Finland does not consider homosexuality and gender reassignment to be a sin ^[19] . Currently, the church is actively debating about the right of homosexual couples to church weddings .

On the issue of blessing same-sex couples, the Lutheran Church of Finland took a wait and see attitude ^[20] . According to 2008 surveys, two-thirds of Lutheran priests of the Helsinki diocese are ready to bless same-sex unions ^[21] . The new head of Finnish Lutherans, Archbishop Kari Myakinen, calls for active discussion of this issue, and Bishop Helsinki Irya Askola does not exclude the right of same-sex couples to receive the blessing of the church after registering a relationship ^[22] .

After broadcasting a program on Finnish YLE TV1 on October 12, 2010, in which conservative politicians sharply rejected the idea of ​​marriage in the church, more than 26 thousand people left the Evangelical Lutheran church in one week. In connection with the wave of renunciation of the church, Archbishop Kari Myakinen expressed his regret ^[23] . A supporter of the broad rights of gays in the church, the bishop of Kuopio, Ville Riekkinen, believes that the opinions of individual politicians are taken for the views of the church, and “the church actually has a very ambiguous, warm and tolerant attitude towards sexual minorities” ^[24] . The chairman of the Christian Democrats party, Paivi Ryasyanen , was surprised at the statements that her speech in the discussion around the topic of “homosexuality” was one of the reasons for the boom of renunciation of the church and emphasizes that she performed in different roles in the program (in the morning program “YLE TV1” she expressed her concern about the statement of Archbishop Kari Mäkinen, according to which the church intends to give its staff clear job descriptions about holding a prayer ceremony after registration marriage). According to her, if the church forces the priests to bless same-sex marriages, this will cause a real split in the church ^[25] . Finnish Prime Minister Marie Kiviniemi called on politicians to separate politics and religion in their activities ^[26] .

At the end of 2010, the Church Council, with 78 votes to 30, decided to draw up a prayer for same-sex couples entering into official relations ^[27] .

Bishop Helsinki Eero Huovinen said in 2010 that the church could waive the right to marry if the country's parliament passed the same-sex marriage law. He was opposed by Bishop Kuopio Ville Riekkinen , who insisted that in this case the church would have to marry same-sex couples ^[28] .

The Church of Finland was the first in the world to allow a person who changed sex to remain in the priesthood. Priest Maria Sisko Aalto , who has served as a pastor since 1986, admitted to her transsexuality and underwent surgery to correct sex in 2009. In the same year, church leaders allowed her to return to her parish. However, in 2010 she left her dignity, citing the impossibility of a trusting relationship with parishioners ^[29] .

On June 9, 2013, Bishop of Helsinki Irya Askola for the first time in the history of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland blessed a same-sex couple for a mission trip to the Mekong River region in Southeast Asia ^[30] .

In connection with the approval by the country's parliament of the law on gender-neutral marriage on November 28, 2014, Archbishop Kari Myakinen, on his Facebook page , thanking the authors of the civic initiative and participants in public discussions, said that he “understands the significance of this day for representatives of sexual minorities, their relatives and loved ones, as well as many others ” ^[31] . In protest over the next three days, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland left 13,184 people ^[32] .

On August 31, 2016, at the meeting of the bishops of the ELCF, held in Joensuu , despite the introduction of the new law, it was decided to marry only a man and a woman as spouses in the future ^[33] . A number of Helsinki clergymen refused to comply with this decree ^[34] , and in October a number of bishops actually denounced their past decision and announced that they were ready for the marriage of homosexual couples in the future ^[35] .

On March 1, 2017, after the entry into force of the law on equal marriage , the head of the ELCF, on his Facebook page, addressed homosexuals with congratulations:

Today I think in particular about you, who now have the opportunity to marry. You taught me a lot and showed the richness and variety of life and love that God has given us. I thank God for what you are

- Archbishop Kari Myakinen ^[36]

However, according to the website Eroakirkosta.fi (“Leave the Church”), the days preceding the entry into force of the new marriage law saw a peak in the exit of believers from the church register (523 people left the church in three days) ^[37] .

Strength

The dynamics of the number of those who adhere to Lutheranism in Finland shows a steady decline in the number of believers of this Christian denomination in relation to the general population of the country. In 2010, about 80 thousand people left the church ^[23] (in 2012 - 41 thousand, in 2013 - about 50 thousand ^[38] ).

By a decision of the ELCF leadership, in May 2012, a law will come into force according to which immigrants will be able to more freely become members of Lutheran communities (before that only permanent residents in Finland were included in the membership register) ^[42] .

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