Tapio Juhani Luoma (born 15 June 1962) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

prelate, who has been the Archbishop of Turku 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

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 ...

since 1 June 2018.

Biography

Born in Kurikka, Luoma was ordained priest in 1987. He acquired a doctorate in theology in 1999 with his dissertation concerning the relationship between theology and natural sciences. Luoma's dissertation is titled ''Incarnation and Physics: Natural Science in the Theology of Thomas F. Torrance'' and is published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

in 2002. He has worked as a chaplain in Peräseinäjoki between 1987 and 1998, and in Ilmajoki between 1998 and 2002. In 2002 he moved to Seinäjoki as

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

. He also served as Broadcaster of the Broadcasting Corporation between 1986 and 1987. On 1 February 2012, he was consecrated as bishop of

Espoo Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...

by Archbishop Kari Mäkinen and installed as bishop on 12 February in

Espoo Cathedral Espoo Cathedral ( fi, Espoon tuomiokirkko, sv, Esbo domkyrka) is a medieval stone church in Espoo, Finland, and the seat of the Diocese of Espoo of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. The cathedral is located in the district of Espoon kes ...

. He was elected as Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland on 1 March 2018, and assumed office in June 2018 upon the retirement of Kari Mäkinen. Luoma is a published author, having authored four books.

Views

Luoma is considered more conservative in his views than his predecessor Archbishop Kari Mäkinen. Luoma opposes church weddings for same-sex couples and holds that marriage is only between a man and a woman. "While Luoma does not support marrying gay couples in the church, he says he will stand behind any decision that the Church makes in the matter."

Honours and awards

Nongovernmental organizations

Servare et Manere: Memorial Medal of Tree of Peace (

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, 2022).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luoma, Tapio 1962 births Living people People from Kurikka Lutheran archbishops and bishops of Turku Finnish theologians 21st-century Lutheran archbishops