Jari Juhani Jolkkonen (born 5 March 1970) is a Finnish prelate who has been bishop of the

Diocese of Kuopio The Diocese of Kuopio (, ) is a diocese within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. It was founded in 1939. Bishops of Kuopio * Eino Sormunen 1939–1962 * Olavi Kares 1962–1974 * Paavo Kortekangas 1974–1981 * Jukka Malmivaara 1981–1 ...

since May 2012.

Biography

Born in

Ilomantsi Ilomantsi ( krl, Il'manči or Ilomančči, sv, Ilomants) is municipality and a village of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population densi ...

, Jolkkonen graduated as an undergraduate in 1989 and later gained a Master of Science in Theology in 1994. He undertook his Ph.D. in 2005 at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

. He ordained a priest in 1995 and served as Secretary General of the Bishop's Conference since 2007. He was also the secretary of Bishop

Eero Huovinen Eero Huovinen (born October 27, 1944, in Helsinki) is the former Bishop of Helsinki in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. Biography Eero Huovinen was born in Helsinki, the son of the Revd Dr Lauri Huovinen (1915–1994), Dean of the ...

, former Bishop of Helsinki. Jolkkonen is also a

Docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de con ...

of the

University of Eastern Finland The University of Eastern Finland ( fi, Itä-Suomen yliopisto) is a university in Finland founded in 2010 with campuses in Joensuu and Kuopio. History The Finnish Parliament passed the Universities Act on June 16, 2009, which, among other thing ...

in his field of systematic theology, especially ecumenism. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the University of Eastern Finland. Jolkkonen received the Church Communications Prize in 1995, together with search engineer Taneli Heikka and Marianne Heikkilä. Jolkkonen's spouse is a priest herself, Hanna Vasiljev. They have five children.https://www.piispajarijolkkonen.fi/henkilotietoja/

References

Finnish Lutheran bishops 1970 births Living people 20th-century Finnish Lutheran clergy 21st-century Finnish Lutheran bishops {{Finland-reli-bio-stub