Orthodox Church of Finland


The Orthodox Church in Finland is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The church has a legal position as a national church in the country, along with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.
With its roots in the medieval Novgorodian missionary work in Karelia, the Orthodox Church of Finland was a part of the Russian Orthodox Church until 1923. Today the church has three dioceses and 54,895 members in Finland, accounting for almost one percent of the native population of Finland. The parish of Helsinki has the most adherents. There are also 2,700 members living abroad.

Structure and organization

Along with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, the Orthodox Church of Finland has a special position in Finnish law. The church is considered to be a Finnish entity of public nature. The external form of the church is regulated by an Act of Parliament, while the spiritual and doctrinal matters of the church are legislated by the central synod of the church. The church has the right to tax its members and corporations owned by its members. Previously under the Russian Orthodox Church, it has been an autonomous Orthodox archdiocese of the Patriarchate of Constantinople since 1923.
The Orthodox Church of Finland is divided into three dioceses, each with a subdivision of parishes. There are 21 parishes with 140 priests and 57,613 members in total, of whom 54,895 are in Finland. The number of church members has been steadily growing for several years. A convent and a monastery also operate within the church.
The central legislative organ of the church is the central synod which is formed of:
The priests and cantors elect their representatives on a diocesan basis, using the plurality election method. The lay representatives are elected indirectly. The nominations for representatives are made by the parish councils which also elect the electors who then elect the lay representatives to the central synod. The central synod elects the bishops and is responsible for the economy and the general doctrine of the church.
The two executive bodies of the church central administration are the synod of bishops, responsible for the doctrinal and foreign affairs of the church, and the church administrative council, responsible for day-to-day management of the church.
The parishes are governed by the rector and the parish council, which is elected in a secret election. All full-age members of the parish are eligible to vote and to be elected to the parish council. The members of the parish have the right to refrain from being elected to a position of trust of the parish only if they are over 60 years of age, or have served at least eight years in a position of trust. The parish council elects the parish board, which is responsible for the day-to-day affairs of the parish.
Financially, the church is independent of the state budget. The parishes are financed by the taxes paid by their members. The central administration is financed through the contributions of the parishes. The central synod decides yearly the amount of contributions the parishes are required to make.

The special status of the Orthodox church is most visible in the administrative processes. The church is required to conform with the general administrative law and the decisions of its bodies may be appealed against in the regional administrative courts. However, the court is limited to reviewing the formal legality of the decision. It may not overturn an ecclesiastical decision on the basis of its unreasonableness. The decisions of the synod of bishops and the central synod are not subject to the oversight of the administrative courts. In contrast, similar legal oversight of private religious communities is pursued by the district courts.
Finnish law protects the absolute priest–penitent privilege. A bishop, priest or deacon of the church may not divulge information he has heard during confession or spiritual care. The identity of the sinner may not be revealed for any purpose. However, if the priest hears about a crime that is about to be committed, he is responsible for informing the authorities in such manner that privilege is not endangered.

Dioceses and bishops

Diocese of Helsinki

The Diocese of Helsinki has the most members, over 28,000. The Diocese of Helsinki is the seat of the archbishop. The diocese is divided into three parishes, with 50 priests. The main church of the diocese is Uspenski Cathedral in Helsinki. Characteristic to the diocese is the large number of members who have recently immigrated to Finland, especially in the Helsinki parish where several churches also officiate at the service in foreign languages, including Russian, English, Greek and Romanian.
The current bishop is Archbishop Elia. He was appointed in 2024.

Diocese of Kuopio and Karelia

The seat of the Bishop of Kuopio and Karelia is in Kuopio.
The Diocese of Karelia has 19,000 church members in 5 parishes. The number of priests in the diocese is about 45, and churches and chapels total over 80. The diocese also includes the only Orthodox monasteries in Finland.
The Orthodox Church Museum of Finland also operates in Kuopio.
The current bishop is Metropolitan Arseni. He was appointed in 2018.

Diocese of Oulu

The small Diocese of Oulu has four parishes, the largest of which is Oulu.
The diocese was established in 1980 and it has 6,000 members. The cathedral of the diocese is the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Oulu. Traditionally, the Skolts, now a small minority of only 300 speakers, have been the earliest Orthodox Christians in the Finnish Lapland. Today, they live predominantly in the Inari parish.
The Diocese of Oulu was founded as part of Archbishop Paul ´s plan to make the Finnish Orthodox Church autocephalous. However, the autocephaly plan has now been abandoned.
The Locum Tenens after Metropolitan Elia`s election as Archbishop is Bishop Sergei.

Monasteries

The only Orthodox Christian monastery in Finland, New Valamo, is situated in Heinävesi. The only Orthodox Christian convent Lintula Holy Trinity Convent is in Palokki, some 10 kilometers away from the monastery. Both were established during World War II when residents of the Karelian and Petsamo monasteries were evacuated from areas ceded to the Soviet Union. With friendly support from the Finnish Orthodox Church, a private Orthodox Brotherhood of Protection of the Mother of God has operated in Kirkkonummi since 2000, with two permanent members.

Additional organizations

The following organizations operate within or on behalf of the Orthodox Church in Finland:
  • Fellowship of St. Sergius and St. Herman
  • Orthodox Youth Association
  • Orthodox Student Association
  • Finnish Association of Orthodox Teachers
  • Orthodox Priests' Association
  • Orthodox Cantors' Association
  • Finnish Society of Icon Painters
  • Filantropia ry– Orthodox Church Aid and Foreign Mission society

    Orthodox missions

The Finnish Orthodox Church established its own missionary organization in 1977 known as the Ortodoksinen Lähetys ry. It has mainly been active in eastern Africa. It later merged with OrtAid and formed Filantropia.

Feasts

The Finnish Orthodox Church is the only Orthodox church that, to comply with national legislation, celebrates Easter according to the Gregorian calendar. Easter is the greatest feast of church year as it is with other Orthodox churches. Also the Twelve Great Feasts are observed. Other highly observed feasts are:
Many Orthodox churches in Finland are small. The few more impressive shrines were built in the 19th century, when Finland was an autonomous Grand Duchy in the Russian Empire, with the Orthodox Christian Emperor as the Grand Duke of Finland. Notable churches in Helsinki from that era are the Uspenski Cathedral and the Holy Trinity church. The oldest Orthodox church in Finland is the church of Protection of the Theotokos in Lappeenranta from 1782 to 1785.
The Orthodox Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Hamina was completed in 1837. Built in the architectural style of Neoclassicism with some Byzantine-style elements, the exterior was designed in the form of a round-domed temple, while the interior is cruciform. The belfry was built in 1862 in the Neo-Byzantine style. The Orthodox church of Tampere was built in Russian romantic style, with onion style cupolas, and was ready in 1896. The architect of the Russian army, T.U. Jasikov, drew the floor plan. The church was consecrated in 1899 to Saint Alexander Nevsky, a Novgorodian who in 1240 fought against the Catholic Swedes and two years later the Catholic Teutonic Knights with equal success. Emperor Nicholas II donated the bells to this church. The church suffered heavily during the Finnish Civil War in 1918; its reconstruction took many years. After Finland declared its independence, it was re-consecrated to St. Nicholas.

After Second World War

After the Second World War, Finland had to cede land to the Soviet Union under Paris Peace Treaties. Almost all Orthodox churches and chapels remained on the Soviet side in Karelia and Petsamo. The Finnish state enacted a special reconstruction law, in which it financed the construction of 14 churches and 44 chapels for the Orthodox church. The churches and chapels were modern in architecture, lacking domes and other features typical to the Orthodox church architecture. This was mandated by the Finnish state which strictly selected the architects. Most reconstruction era churches and chapels are designed by Ilmari Ahonen and Toivo Paatela.
From the 1970s to the 1990s, Karelian-type log churches and chapels were built were built in Finland with some modern exceptions.
From the 1990s, some contemporary churches have been built in large cities and towns.