The Diocese of Borgå (, ) is a diocese for the
Swedish-speaking minority of Finland. It is a part of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (; ) is a national church of Finland. It is part of the Lutheranism, Lutheran branch of Christianity. The church has a legal position as a national church in the country, along with the Orthodox Church o ...
.
Porvoo
Porvoo (; ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located on the south coast of the country, on the Gulf of Finland. Porvoo lies in the eastern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Porvoo is approximately , while the Porvoo sub-region, sub-re ...
(''Borgå'' in
Swedish) is also the old seat of the present-day (Finnish-speaking)
Diocese of Tampere.
Unlike the other dioceses of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, the diocese is not formed on a geographical basis. All the Swedish-speaking parishes and dominantly Swedish-speaking bilingual parishes of the church belong to the diocese, regardless of their location. As a result of the geographical distribution of Swedish-speakers, the parishes of the diocese are mostly on the coast, the Swedish-speaking parish of
Tampere
Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...
being the only inland parish. In addition, there are two ethnicity-based parishes in the diocese: The German parish of Finland and ''rikssvenska Olaus Petri församlingen'', the former Church of Sweden parish in Finland. The German parish () is the parish for the German-speaking minority of Finland, while the ''rikssvenska'' parish consists of Swedish citizens living in Finland.
The diocese has some 234,000 parishioners.
Bishops of Borgå
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Max von Bonsdorff, 1923–1954
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Georg Olof Rosenqvist, 1954–1961
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Karl-Erik Forssell, 1961–1970
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John Vikström, 1970–1982
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Erik Vikström, 1983–2006
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Gustav Björkstrand, 2006–2009
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Björn Vikström 2009–2019
*
Bo-Göran Åstrand 2019–
Two of the three bishops Vikström are brothers, John (later
archbishop of Turku/Åbo) and Erik, while Björn is a son of John Vikström.
See also
*
Porvoo Cathedral
Porvoo Cathedral (; ) is a cathedral of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland in Porvoo, Finland. It was built in the 15th century, although the oldest parts date from the 13th century. It is the seat of the Diocese of Borgå, Finland's ...
External links
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Diocese of Borgå
Christian organizations established in 1923
Lutheran districts established in the 20th century
Borga
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