Finland -- ORTHODOXY?

[Cappadocian]

Does anyone know what the religious situation in Finland is like? Is this an historically Orthodox country, or is it Lutheran? Do they have a lot of Orthodox Christians there?

Thank you!:liturgy:

[Philip]

It is historically Lutheran with an Orthodox influence. There is an autonomous Church of Finland under the EP.

FWIW, the Finnish Lutherans are among the most Orthodox Protestants there are.

[HandmaidenOfGod]

Taken from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland):


"Most Finns (84%) are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, with a minority of 1% belonging to the Finnish Orthodox Church (see Eastern Orthodoxy). These two churches are the state church of Finland.
The remainder of the population consists of relatively small groups of other Protestant denominations, Roman Catholics, Muslims and Jews beside the 14% who are unaffiliated."

Hope this helps!

In XC,

Maureen

[Rilian]

Until one of our resident Finnish members of TAW shows up, I'll tell you what I know. Or at least what I think I know.

Finland has historically been a predominantly Lutheran country (since at least some point following the Reformation anyhow). It was for a long time I believe under Swedish control and there is still a Swedish speaking minority in part of the country.

I believe Orthodoxy was introduced in to the country when it fell under Russian imperial control. I believe that was in the 19th century. Currently I think there are around 60,000 Orthodox Christians in the country, and that the Orthodox Church is one of two official state churches along with the Lutheran. I think that means it must get money from the state at least in part.

I'm pretty sure the area with the highest concentration of Orthodox Christians in the country is Karelia in the East along the border with Russia. I think in the North many of the Sami people are also Orthodox.

The status of the church has followed the vicissitudes of the political situation of the country, which is fairly common. Finland declared its independence in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution and with the downfall of the Romanovs. I think at that time it came under the Omophorion of the Ecumenical Patriarch. Finland fought against the Soviet Union during World War II and lost a significant amount of land in Karelia that it had retained after it had declared its independence. I’m pretty sure included in that was the island monastery of Valaam, which at one time had been in Finnish Karelia. So many people who would have been Orthodox residents of Finland went back to Soviet Union (and now the Russian Federation).

One other distinctive of the Finnish church is that it is the only canonical Orthodox church that I’m aware of that uses the western calendar for both fixed and movable feasts.

[Rilian]

Oh, and it just so happens that my avatar is the dome of the Uspenski Cathedral (http://www.muuka.com/finnishpumpkin/churches/helsinki/chush/church_chush.html) which has a commanding presence over the city of Helsinki.

[Cappadocian]

With a minority of 1% belonging to the Finnish Orthodox Church (see Eastern Orthodoxy). These two churches are the state church of Finland.
Wow, that's a tiny proportion of Orthodox -- I wonder why they are included as "the state church of Finland"?

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030427/spectrum/tr4.jpg
Russian Orthodox Church in Helsinki

[Rilian]

Here's (http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=25813) a good article about the history of the church.

[Khaleas]

Wow, that's a tiny proportion of Orthodox -- I wonder why they are included as "the state church of Finland"?


Russian Orthodox Church in Helsinki

Great Work Rilian! You're most definitely an honorary Finn!

Because when Finland became independent the land area was a lot larger and included a lot more Orthodox.
http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=25907#loss

The areas in the south east toward Russia as well as the area in the northeast. This area was predominantly Orthodox. So when the country became independent they negotiated that both churches would be state-churches, but the only requirement the govt put was that the Orthodox church had to get on the new calender and that included celebrating Pasha at the same time as the Lutherans. This was under dispensation from the EP which was supposed to be renewed ever so often but then it just became that way.
In a way it makes sense because Easter is a national holiday so you don't have to take time off but lately there has been a fair share of mudslinging between the Finnish Orthodox Church and the MP (whose influx is growing)
Orthodoxy being a state-religion also means that they tax the members directly. 2-2.5% of your pay is directly paid to the church. The Lutherans pay about 1% depending on the municipality. We also have a presence of MP (Moscow Patriarchate) but they are a registered religious congregation but are not a state church and do not tax their members directly. So they rely on govt support that the can apply for as an organisation and tithing (as do all other religious entities).
The monks from Valaam in Lake Ladoga moved to the monastery in Finnish Karelia that is now called New-Valaam after the area was ceeded to the Russians after Winter War/Continuation War (at the time of WWII). Some also came from Konevets.
The University of Joensuu has a department of Orthodox studies and the Orthodox Seminary is also located there. This is in the deepest part of Finnish Karelia. The Monastery of New-Valaam also has a folk (lay) academy and arranges courses throughout the year in different areas, iconography (I think they are even running a beginners course in English this year), prayers, saints, retreats etc.

So most of the Orthodox in Finland area located in the eastern parts, around Helsinki as well as the Skolt Saami up north. Skolt are all Orthodox and were moved to Finland at the end of WWII. Their language is very different from the rest of Saami and the original alphabet was very close to the Russian cyrillic. However, all larger cities have at least one Orthodox church. Most of them quite old and very pretty.

Btw, I know they have it wrong in a lot of places online, but the church in Helsinki is not a Russian Orthodox one... it's just called Uspenskij Cathedral (or the Orthodox cathedral in Helsinki).
This site has some awesome pictures too

http://www.terryblackburn.us/Travel/Baltics/Finland/Orthodox/

[Khaleas]

One thing I have to add though,
even if the Uspenskij Cathedral (which by the way is the Dormition 'uspenije') is absolutely gorgeous inside, it has the worst acoustics of any church I've ever been to. You can barely hear the choir and they keep moving them around to find a better spot. The Deacons have to be really super, overly articulate and you can rarely hear all of the gospel clearly.

:(

[HandmaidenOfGod]

How beautiful! Thank you for sharing! What a great blending of Western and Eastern architecture/iconography!


Thanks again for the links!

In XC,

Maureen

[Rilian]

Great Work Rilian! You're most definitely an honorary Finn!

I even like crayfish.

[Khaleas]

I even like crayfish.

:bow: :bow: :bow:

... when you start liking little herring baked into ryebread (kalakukko)... it's time for an evaluation ;)


I love crayfish too...