The Catholic Church in Finland is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. As of 2018, there were more than 15,000 registered Catholics in Finland out of a total population of 5.5 million. There were also an estimated 10,000 unregistered Catholics in the country. Of the more than 6000 Catholic families in the country, half were Finnish and the rest from the international community. Due to the small number of Catholics in Finland, the whole country forms a single diocese, the

Catholic Diocese of Helsinki The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helsinki is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church based in Helsinki, which comprises the whole of Finland. The diocese is divided into eight parishes. The bishopric has been vacant since May 2019 when Bish ...

. As of 2018, there were five native-born Finnish priests, three of whom work in Finland. There are more than 30 priests from different countries serving in Finland. Since the 2019 retirement of

Teemu Sippo Teemu Jyrki Juhani Sippo S.C.I. (born 20 May 1947) is the former Roman Catholic Bishop of Helsinki, from 2009 to 2019. He was the first Finnish-born Catholic Bishop since Arvid Kurck (1464–1522). Life Teemu Sippo was born on 20 May 1947 in ...

, the first native-born Finnish Catholic Bishop since the

Lutheran 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

has been vacant, i.e. without a bishop. The Catholic Church in Finland is active in

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

matters and is a member of the Finnish Ecumenical Council, even though the worldwide Catholic Church is not a member of the World Council of Churches.

History

Catholicism was the first form of Christianity introduced into the area of present-day Finland. The earliest finds of Western-Christian (Catholic) artefacts date from the 11th to the 12th centuries. In the 16th century, Finland, as part of Sweden, took part in the

after which Catholicism lost almost all ground in the area. The first Catholic religious service following the death of the Catholic King

John III of Sweden John III ( sv , Johan III, fi, Juhana III; 20 December 1537 – 17 November 1592) was King of Sweden from 1569 until his death. He was the son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife Margaret Leijonhufvud. He was also, quite autonomous ...

in 1592 was celebrated in 1796 by the Apostolic Vicar of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, the Italian-born Father Paolo Moretti. A parish was established in 1799 in Vyborg in the Russian part of Old Finland. After the rest of Finland became part of the Russian Empire in 1812, the parish covered the whole Grand Duchy of Finland. There were about 3000 Catholics in 1830. Until the 1860s, all the priests serving in Finland were Lithuanian Dominicans. The parish of Helsinki was founded in 1856, possibly due to the influence of the Governor General

Friedrich Wilhelm von Berg Friedrich Wilhelm Rembert Graf von Berg (german: Friedrich Wilhelm Rembert von Berg, russian: Фёдор Фёдорович Берг, tr. ; ) was a Baltic German nobleman, statesman, diplomat and general who served in the Imperial Russian Army. ...

's Italian wife, Leopoldina Cicogna Mozzoni (1786 - Warsaw 17 February 1874).

St. Henry's Cathedral St. Henry's Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Helsinki, Finland, dedicated to Bishop Henrik, a 12th-century Roman Catholic Bishop of Turku, Finland. It is the Cathedral Church of the Catholic Diocese of Helsinki. In terms of membership, t ...

in Helsinki was finished in 1860. In 1882 all the German priests and nuns were expelled. All foreign priests were expelled again in 1912. After

Finland's independence The Finnish Declaration of Independence ( fi, Suomen itsenäisyysjulistus; sv, Finlands självständighetsförklaring; russian: Провозглашение независимости Финляндии) was adopted by the Parliament of Finl ...

and the departure of Russian military forces, which had included many Poles and Lithuanians, the Catholic Church lost most of its members. In 1920 an apostolic vicariate was established in Finland. A parish in Turku was established in 1926, and in 1927 a parish in Terijoki. The Government granted the Catholic Church in Finland the status of religious community in 1929. Finland established diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 1942 and

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

donated a significant sum of money to Finnish war orphans. After the war, the parishes in Vyborg and Terijoki, which had been located in territories that were ceded to the USSR, were moved to Lahti, and a new parish was founded in 1949 in Jyväskylä. The Church of the Assumption of Mary was finished in Helsinki in 1954. The following year the apostolic vicariate was raised to a diocese. A parish in Tampere was established in 1957, a parish in Kouvola in 1985, and a parish in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

in 1992. Catholic Church movements and groups are also active in Finland. One of these, the Neocatechumenal Way has established two Redemptoris Mater seminaries in Finland and maintains a presence both in Helsinki and in other towns, most notably

. A notable Catholic Finn in the early 21st century is the former head of the nationalist Finns Party, Timo Soini.

Bishops

Bishops of Turku

* Henrik, 1134–1158 * Rodolfus, 1202?–1209? * Folkvinus, 1210?–1234? *

Tuomas Tuomas is a male given name common in Finland. It is the Finnish version of the name Thomas. Common variations of Tuomas in Finland include Tuomo, Toomas, Tomas and Thoma. The nameday is the 21st of December. As of 2013 there are more than 32,000 pe ...

, 1234?–1245 *

Bero Bero may refer to: Places: * Bero (woreda), a woreda in Ethiopia * Bero block, an administrative block in Ranchi district, Jharkhand, India * Bero, India, a village in Jharkhand state, India * Bero River, Angola People: * Bero (name), a list of p ...

, 1248 tai 1249–1258 * Ragvald I, 1258–1266 * Catillus, 1266–1286 * Johannes, 1286–1290 * Maunu I, 1291–1308 * Ragvald II, 1309–1321 * Pentti Gregoriuksenpoika, 1321–1338 * Hemming, 1338–1366 * Henrik Hartmaninpoika, 1366–1367 * Johannes Pietarinpoika, 1367–1370 * Johannes Westfal, 1370–1385 * Bero Balk, 1385–1412 * Maunu Olavinpoika Tavast, 1412–1450 * Olavi Maununpoika, 1450–1460 * Konrad Bitz, 1460–1489 * Maunu III Särkilahti, 1489–1500 * Laurentius Michaelis, 1500–1506 *

Johannes IV Olofsson Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as " John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, '' Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Y ...

, 1506–1510 *

Arvid Kurck Arvid Kurck (also known as Arvid Kurki; 1464 in Vesilahti – 22 July 1522 in Öregrund) was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Turku from 1510 to 1522.apostolic vicariate headed by an apostolic vicar, who was technically not the Bishop of Helsinki, but the titular bishop of a titular see, which is a defunct Roman Catholic diocese.

Apostolic Vicars of Finland 1923–1955

Bishops of Helsinki 1955–

Churches

Parishes of Catholic Diocese of Helsinki

There are eight Catholic parishes in Finland: # St. Henry's Cathedral, Helsinki (Sub Centres - Tapanila ( Vantaa), Porvoo) # St. Brigit & Blessed Hemming Church, Turku (Sub Centres - Åland, Eurajoki,

Pori ) , website www.pori.fi Pori (; sv, Björneborg ) is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäki River, west of Tampere, north of Turku and north-w ...

) # St. Olav's Church, Jyväskylä #

St. Mary's Church, Helsinki St. Mary Catholic Parish ( fi, Pyhän Marian kirkko, sv, Sankta Maria kyrka) is a Roman Catholic parish based in the Meilahti neighborhood of Helsinki, Finland. Pastoral care is entrusted to the Priests of the Sacred Heart. Like other Finnish Ca ...

(Sub Centres - Olari ( Espoo), Hyvinkää,

Karis Karis (; fi, Karjaa ) is a town and former municipality in Finland. On January 1, 2009, it was consolidated with Ekenäs and Pohja to form the new municipality of Raseborg; fi, Raasepori. It is located in the Finnish province of Southern F ...

) # Holy Cross Church, Tampere (Sub Centres - Hämeenlinna, Kokkola, Kristinestad, Jakobstad,

Seinäjoki Seinäjoki (; "Wall River"; la, Wegelia, formerly sv, Östermyra) is a city located in South Ostrobothnia, Finland; east of Vaasa, north of Tampere, west of Jyväskylä and southwest of Oulu. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bru ...

, Vaasa) # St. Ursula's Church, Kouvola (Sub Centres -

Hamina Hamina (; sv, Fredrikshamn, , Sweden ) is a List of cities in Finland, town and a Municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located approximately east of the country's capital Helsinki, in the Kymenlaakso Regions of Finland, reg ...

, Kotka, Lahti, Lappeenranta) # Holy Family of Nazareth Church,

(Sub Centres - Rovaniemi, Tornio,

Kemi Kemi (; sme, Giepma ; smn, Kiemâ; sms, Ǩeeʹmm; Swedish (historically): ''Kiemi'') is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located very near the city of Tornio and the Swedish border. The distance to Oulu is to the south and to Rovani ...

, Kajaani) # St. Joseph's Church,

Kuopio Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...

(Sub Centres - Mikkeli, Savonlinna, Joensuu, Lieksa) Masses are also celebrated at the sub centres of the above parishes and some Lutheran and Orthodox Churches on alternative weeks. There is a Catholic Church training centre named Stella Maris in Lohja. There is a high demand for establishing a new parish in Northern Finland at Rovaniemi which is a major tourist destination in

Lapland Lapland may refer to: Places *Lapland or Sápmi, an ethno-cultural region stretching over northern Fennoscandia (parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia) **Lapland (Finland) (''Lappi''/''Lappland''), a Finnish region *** Lapland (former pr ...

Religious orders

The Bridgettine order is active in Finland with convents in Turku and Koisjärvi, near Lohja. A

Carmelite , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Car ...

convent, the Monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Finland was established in Espoo in 1988. The Dominican friars run a house in central Helsinki, home to a large library specializing in Christian studies and ecumenism named Studium Catholicum.

The relics of Bishop Henrik

The ownership of the relics of Bishop Henrik caused some controversy between the

National Board of Antiquities The Finnish Heritage Agency ( fi, Museovirasto, sv, Museiverket), previously known in English as the National Board of Antiquities, preserves Finland's material cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible ...

, the Catholic Church in Finland, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. In 1998 the pastor of the Cathedral of Saint Henry in Helsinki wished to relocate Henrik's relics to the Cathedral, although they were previously exhibited in the Lutheran Cathedral of Turku. The

eventually chose to place the relics in the Cathedral of Saint Henry in Helsinki.

Liturgical languages

Because half of the Roman Catholics in Finland are members of the international community, the Catholic Mass is regularly celebrated in 20 other languages in addition to Finnish. The languages beyond Finnish in which the Mass is celebrated include Swedish, English, Polish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Malayalam, Tamil and Hungarian.

References

Works cited

External links

Catholic Church in Finland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Catholic Church In Finland