Pope Francis welcomed the ecumenical delegation from Finland on Friday, January 19, the second day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and the feast day of St. Henry of Uppsala.
The Pope spoke of the importance of ecumenical dialogue, reflected extensively on the important role played by the saints and their testaments, and said, “We are on a journey and our common goal is Jesus Christ.” There is,” he said.
“Saints are brothers and sisters who have traveled this path to the end and have reached the goal. They come to us as living witnesses of our path, truth and life in Christ,” the Pope told the Finnish delegation. I will accompany you.”
“If the 1000th anniversary of St. Olaf’s death in 2030 can inspire and deepen our prayers for unity and journey, it will be a gift for the entire ecumenical movement,” the Pope added in his speech. Ta.
Following Friday’s meeting with the Pope, the ecumenical delegation met with Cardinal Kurt Koch, head of the Diplomatic Office for the Promotion of Christian Unity. Father Oscar Jurikkala, who attended the conference, called the cardinal “a very unique case that can serve as an example for others.”
Finland shares borders with Sweden, Norway, and Russia. It has a population of about 5.5 million people, of whom an estimated 16,000 are Catholic, making up less than 1% of the population.
The Diocese of Helsinki covers the entire country and is made up of just eight parishes and 25 priests, most of whom are foreign-born. Despite the small number of Catholics, Finland’s Catholic population grows every year, mainly due to conversions and immigration.
Following the resignation of Bishop Teemu Shippo, the first Finnish-born Catholic bishop since the Protestant Reformation, Father Raimo Goyalola was appointed by Pope Francis to Helsinki on September 29, 2023, following a four-year vacancy in the diocese. was appointed a bishop.
Father Goyalola was installed as Bishop of Helsinki on November 25, 2023 at Johaneksen Church (St. John Lutheran Church) in Helsinki.
Reflecting on his consecration as a bishop, Bishop Goyalola spoke to EWTN. National Catholic Register In a recent interview, he said, “It was a wonderful, ecumenical feast. Of course there were a lot of Catholics, but there were also a lot of Lutherans, Pentecostals, Orthodox, Methodists, Anglicans, and we were part of the Council of the Church. It was something like.”
Ecumenism between different churches is one of the defining features of the country’s religious structure.
“Thanks to ecumenism, we use 25 different temples that are non-Catholic. They are Lutheran or Orthodox. Every Sunday we use 25 [different non-Catholic parishes]; This means 25 different cities. [there is] Catholic mass. But this is not a Catholic parish. And this is amazing. This is a gift. This is ecumenism in Finland,” the bishop continued in an interview with the Register.
According to the diocese’s official website, permanent Catholic parishes are located in Helsinki, Turku, Jyvaskyla, Tampere (with chapels in Vaasa and Pietarsaari), Kouvola, Kuopio and Oulu.
“On Sundays, the parish priest celebrates three or four Masses. One Mass is within the parish, another Mass is 200 kilometers from the parish, and the third mass is perhaps 150 kilometers from the parish. Because of the distance, we travel a lot by car and train,” the bishop added.
Finland is a traditionally Lutheran country. However, in many ways it retains a unique connection to the Catholic tradition that allows for greater ecumenical dialogue.
Jurikkala, a native of Helsinki and a priest at Opus Dei in Rome, spoke to CNA about his journey to the faith and the unique ecumenical atmosphere that characterizes the Finnish church.
“In recent decades, there has been a growing sense of camaraderie, especially among bishops, priests and pastors of the Lutheran, Orthodox and Catholic churches,” he said.
For both Father Jurikkala and Bishop Goyalola, the unique status and historical heritage of Finnish Lutheranism facilitated the promotion of dialogue and mutual understanding with Catholicism.
Goyalola pointed out that in Finland the Protestant Reformation primarily took the form of “political reform” and said that Finnish Lutherans “pray.”[ed] More than 100 years after the Reformation, there were still tabernacles all over Finland. ”
“The Lutheran Church in Finland is the closest Lutheran church in the world to the Catholic Church,” the bishop added.
Father Jurikkala said that the Catholic Church and the Finnish Lutheran Church also have a common “way of understanding the Eucharist and Communion.” Many other places have not been so radically reformed. He added that there is also a “strong sense of the episcopacy”, which he views as “much closer to the Anglican Church in that sense”. It is a strong sense of the episcopacy, the hierarchy of the church, and the concept of the priesthood. ”
Father Yurikkala grew up in what he called a “humanistic family” that focused on “humanities, literature and culture.” Western culture. ”
A Finnish priest said that in Finland, especially from the 1980s to the early 2000s, “the Catholic Church was very invisible in society.”
However, over the past 20 years, he said, there has been a change in the church’s presence in Northern Europe, due in part to the advent of social media and the spread of the internet.
“In Finland, we can clearly see that the younger generation is very open-minded towards spirituality in general and religious interests,” Father Jjulikkala said. “In recent weeks, some sociologists have published research showing that teenage boys are now the most religious group in Finland.”