Björn Håkan Vikström (born 17 July 1963) is a Finnish prelate who served as Bishop of Borgå between 2009 and 2019.

Biography

Vikström was born on 17 July 1963 in

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. He was ordained a priest in 1988, after which he has served as a pastor in

Hanko Hanko may refer to Places *Hanko, Finland, town and municipality *Hanko Peninsula, Finland * Hankø, an island in the Oslo Fjord in Norway *The asteroid 2299 Hanko Other uses * August Hanko (military personnel), German First World War flying a ...

and in the Matteus Church of

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, as well as a chaplain for 15 years in the parish of

Kimito Kimito (; ) is a former municipality of Finland. On January 1, 2009, it was consolidated with Dragsfjärd and Västanfjärd to form the new municipality of Kimitoön. Prior to the consolidation, it was one of the four municipalities located ...

and

Västanfjärd Västanfjärd is a List of former municipalities of Finland, former municipality of Finland. On January 1, 2009, it was consolidated with Dragsfjärd and Kimito to form the new municipality of Kimitoön. It is located in the provinces of Finl ...

. He acquired his doctorate in theology in 2000 from

Åbo Akademi University Åbo Akademi University ( , ) is the only exclusively Swedish language multi-faculty university in Finland (or anywhere outside Sweden). It is located mainly in Turku (Åbo is the Swedish name of the city) but has also activities in Vaasa. Å ...

Bishop

The election for the new Bishop of Borgå was characterized as a competition between the Conservatives and the Liberals, where the Liberals were clearly victorious. Vikström's liberal Bible-mindedness was an old problem, and the discussion particularly concerned his acceptance of homosexual persons. Vikström's positive stance towards homosexuality raised resistance especially in the Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia, where, according to one view, "many do not experience Vikström as a spiritual leader." Nonetheless, he won the 2009 bishop's election in the second round against Sixten Ekstrand in 250-199 votes. Vikström was ordained a bishop on 29 November 2009. He is the seventh bishop of the Diocese of Porvoo. Vikström was nominated for Archbishop of Turku in 2018, but lost to

Tapio Luoma Tapio Juhani Luoma (born 15 June 1962) is a Finnish prelate, who has been the Archbishop of Turku and Finland and Primate of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland since 1 June 2018. Biography Born in Kurikka, Luoma was ordained priest in 1 ...

."Tapio Luoma on seuraava arkkipiispa"
''

Yle Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...

'', 1 March 2018. Retrieved on 26 August 2018.

References

1963 births Living people People from Turku Finnish Lutheran bishops Åbo Akademi University alumni 20th-century Finnish Lutheran clergy 21st-century Finnish Lutheran bishops {{Finland-Lutheran-bishop-stub Swedish-speaking Finns