The Archdiocese of Turku ( fi, Turun arkkihiippakunta, sv, Åbo ärkestift), historically known as '' Archdiocese of Åbo'', is the seat of the Archbishop of Turku. It is a part of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland ( fi, Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko; sv, Evangelisk-lutherska kyrkan i Finland) is a national church of Finland. It is part of the Lutheran branch of Christianity. The church has a legal positio ...

, and its see city is

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

. The Archbishop has many administrative tasks relating to the National church, and is the Metropolitan and

Primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter including ...

of the church. In common with other Lutheran and Anglican churches the Archbishop is considered '' primus inter pares'' while all diocesan bishops retain their independence within their respective jurisdictions. This also applies to the Bishop of Turku Archdiocese. The Archdiocese of Turku has a unique episcopal structure as there are two bishops in the Diocese.

History

Influenced by papal bulls, Swedish magnates in the 12th century set up

crusading The First Crusade inspired the crusading movement, which became an important part of late medieval western culture. The movement influenced the Church, politics, the economy, society and created a distinct ideology that described, regulated, a ...

expeditions to convert the heathens in the eastern Baltic. This resulted in the establishment of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, the Christian religion and the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

conquest of southern

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in 1249.

, or ''Åbo'', became the principal city in Finland and residence of a Bishopric (the Bishopric of Turku; or ''episcopus Aboensis''). As a result of

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

in the 16th century the Catholic Church had to give way for the Lutheran state church that was established by King Gustav Vasa of Sweden. The principal ecclesiastical reformer in Finland was

Mikael Agricola Mikael Agricola (; c. 1510 – 9 April 1557) was a Finnish Lutheran clergyman who became the de facto founder of literary Finnish and a prominent proponent of the Protestant Reformation in Sweden, including Finland, which was a Swedish territo ...

who from 1554 onward was also the Bishop of the Turku Diocese. After the

Finnish War The Finnish War ( sv, Finska kriget, russian: Финляндская война, fi, Suomen sota) was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a re ...

in 1809, Finland became a part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

as an autonomous Grand Duchy. In 1817 the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

was elevated in the status of Archbishop and thus became the head of the Church in Finland. The Lutheran Church thereby became the state church of the Grand Duchy. In 1870, the church was detached from the state as a separate judicial entity. After Finland had gained independence in 1917, through the constitution of 1919 and the act on religious freedom of 1922 the

became a national church of Finland (along with the

Finnish Orthodox Church The Orthodox Church of Finland ( fi, Suomen ortodoksinen kirkko, lit=Finnish Orthodox Church; sv, Ortodoxa kyrkan i Finland, lit=Orthodox Church in Finland; ) is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Const ...

, which however did not get a constitutional position).

Archbishop of Turku and Finland

The bishopric of Turku was elevated to an archbishopric in 1817. Since then the Ordinary has held the full official title of Archbishop of Turku and Finland. There has been an unbroken succession of archbishops in Finland. Since the retirement of Archbishop Kari Mäkinen in 2018, Tapio Luoma has been the incumbent Archbishop of Turku and Finland. He previously served as the Bishop of Espoo (2012-2018).

Bishop of Turku Archdiocese

Since 1998, there have been two diocesan bishops in the Turku Archdiocese: the Bishop of Turku Archdiocese and the Archbishop of Turku and Finland. Neither of the two is a suffragan as there are no suffragan bishops in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. Episcopal oversight of the Archdiocese is shared between the Bishop and the Archbishop. According to the decision of the ELCF General Synod, the area of the primary oversight of the Bishop of Turku Archdiocese consists of 42 parishes, whereas the Archbishop's primary diocesan oversight covers the deanery of Turku which consists of 9 parishes. Moreover, the Bishop of Turku Archdiocese is in charge of the day-to-day running of the Diocesan Chapter. This arrangement allows for the Archbishop to take a leading role on the national and international ecclesiastical stages. Since 2021, the incumbent Bishop of Turku Archdiocese has been Mari Leppänen

References

External links

Archdiocese of Turku

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
{{Coord missing, Sweden

Dioceses established in the 13th century Turku Former Catholic dioceses in Sweden

History

Archbishop of Turku and Finland

Bishop of Turku Archdiocese

See also

References

External links