Finland – The prosecution of Dr. Paivi Lehsenen, member of the Finnish Parliament, and Bishop Juhana Pohjola of the Evangelical Lutheran Missionary Diocese of Finland (ELMDF) is not yet over. On January 12, prosecutors announced that they would appeal the verdict that found the two men not guilty to the Supreme Court of Finland.
The two were charged with hate speech in 2021 for articulating historic Christian teachings about human sexuality. The accusations center on a 2004 booklet written by Dr. Rassenen, as well as comments and tweets she made in a radio interview that included photos of Bible verses. Bishop Pojola was indicted as the publisher of the 2004 booklet.
The decision to prosecute the two men raised widespread international concern about the state of religious freedom and freedom of speech in Finland. The pair first went on trial in Helsinki District Court in 2022, and prosecutors repeatedly questioned them on questions of faith and doctrine. They were ultimately acquitted unanimously by a three-judge panel, which declared that “it is not the role of the district court to interpret Biblical concepts.” The prosecutor’s office appealed this decision to the Helsinki Court of Appeal. In November 2023, the same court unanimously acquitted them of all charges.
Bishop Pohoyola and Dr. Rasenen must now wait for the Supreme Court to decide whether to accept the case. Meanwhile, the International Lutheran Council (ILC) is calling for continued prayers for Finland’s politicians and bishops. “I invite Christians around the world to continue to remember Bishop Poyola and Dr. Rasenen in their prayers,” said ILC Executive Director Reverend Klaus Detlev Schulz. “They have already endured years of fear and anxiety as a result of this unjust prosecution. May God give them the courage to continue their faithful witness to Christ and His Word, and May you find comfort in the midst of ongoing persecution.”
The ILC has advocated strongly on behalf of Dr. Rasenen and Bishop Pohoyola as they faced investigations and trials over the past few years. That support includes a 2021 letter of public support for the pair signed by leaders of 45 Lutheran organizations around the world. Church leaders expressed similar support at the ILC’s 2022 World Congress in Kenya when they elected Bishop Pojola as ILC President.
The International Lutheran Council is a worldwide association of confessional Lutheran churches dedicated to the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and based on the authority of the Bible and the Lutheran Confession of Faith.
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Matthew Block is communications manager for the International Lutheran Council. He is also the editor of the Canadian Lutheran magazine and previously served as communications manager for the Lutheran Church of Canada.