Finnish Orthodox Church
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The Finnish Orthodox Church is, beside the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, one of the two official national churches in Finland.
Chronology
Some of the altogether earliest traces of Christianity in what is today mainland Finland are representative of an eastern Christian tradition. The equivalents of some of the earliest excavated crosses in Finland, dating to the 11th century, can be found in Novgorod-Kiev ([article in Finnish]). Most of the Christian vocabulary in Finnish appear to be loans from an early slavic language which in turn borrowed them from Greek. Eastern Orthodox Christianity started gaining a more recognised status in Finland during Russian rule in the 19th century and in Helsinki, Viipuri and the Karelian Isthmus, Orthodoxy was associated with the country's ruling elite. However, many rural Finns, Sami and Karelians have been confessing the Orthodox faith for centuries.A separate Finnish episcopate with a leading Archbishop was established in 1896 under the Russian Orthodox Church. Shortly after Finland declared independence from Russia in 1917, the Finnish Orthodox Church declared its autonomy from the Russian Church. Finland's first constitution (1918) granted the Orthodox Church an equal status with the Evangelical Church ([link in Finnish]). In 1923, the Finnish Church completely separated from the Russian Church, becoming an autonomous member of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople. At the same time the Gregorian Calendar was adopted. Other reforms introduced after independence include changing the language of the liturgy from Church Slavonic to Finnish and the transfer of the Archepiscopal seat from Viipuri to Sortavala.
Until World War II, the majority of the Orthodox Christians in Finland were located in Karelia. As a consequence of the war, many residents of this border province were evacuated to other parts of the country. The monastery of Valamo was evacuated in 1940 and the monastery of New Valamo was founded in 1941 at Heinävesi, on the Finnish side of the new border. Later, the monks from Konevitsa and Petsamo monasteries also joined the New Valamo monastery. The nunnery of Lintula at Kivennapa (Karelian Isthmus) was also evacuated, and re-established at Heinävesi in 1946. A new parish network was established, and many new churches were built in the 1950s. After the cities of Sortavala and Viipuri were lost to the Soviet Union, the archepiscopal seat was moved to Kuopio and the diocesan seat of Viipuri was moved to Helsinki. A third diocese was established at Oulu in 1979.
Today, in Finland, Orthodoxy is practiced mostly by immigrants of Russian origin, Karelians and the Skolt Sami. The Orthodox Christian Church has about 60,000 members, or ca. 1.1% of Finland's population (est. 2003). In recent decades, the membership has been steadily growing.
The current primate of the Finnish Orthodox Church is His Eminence Leo, Archbishop of Karelia and All Finland.
External links
- [The Orthodox Church of Finland] (Official site)
- [Finnish Orthodox Church - Virtual Finland] (Written for Virtual Finland by Archbishop Leo)
- [Valaam Monastery in Russia]
- [New Valamo Monastery in Finland]
- [OrtoWeb] (Learning Environment for R.E)
- [Ortodoksi.net]
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| This article is part of the series on Eastern Christianity — Also see the [[Portal:Eastern Christianity>Eastern Christianity Portal]] |
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