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The 'Finnish Orthodox Church' is the national jurisdiction of the Eastern Orthodox Church in Finland.
Beside the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland it is one of the two official national churches in Finland. It has about 60,000 members, or ca. 1.1% of Finland's population (est. 2003).

Contents

Orthodox Christianity in Finland and in adjacent territories

Clash between Catholicism and Orthodoxy

Karelian Monasteries

The years of oppression

Back to the fold of the Russian Orthodox Church

History in independent Finland and as an autonomous church

Today

See also

External links

References

External links

Orthodox Christianity in Finland and in adjacent territories

Around 1000 Finland was an almost uninhabited country. Historians have estimated that there were just 50.000 - 80.000 inhabitants in the whole country. The settled regions were the southwestern coast region, whose centre became some 200 years later the small town of Turku (, ) A second settled region was the southeastern region of Karelia, the area populated by the most Eastern tribe of Finnish speaking peole, the Karelians, ''Karjalaiset''. There grew up the town of Viborg, who was to become the second important town in Mediaeval Finland. The Sami (Lappish) people were pushed by the Finns into the forests of Central Finland.
As is the case in most of Northern Eurasia - North-Western Europe (Celts and Scandinavians) similarly to North-Eastern Europe (Finno-ugric peoples, the Sami, Samojed people in northern Russia etc.) - the Finns' native religion was shamanism. It is thought that traces of a similar animistic belief system were still visible among the Sami people until the 19th century.
In the Viking Age, Europe's central trade routes, the Volga trade route and the trade route from Scandinavia to Greece, extending from the British Isles in the West to Bagdhad and Constantinople in the East, passed along the Finnish coast, through the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga. The Swedes, also known as Varyags or Vikings, started their journey in their long ships from central Sweden, or from the island of Gotland, to Holmgard (Novgorod) and from there on to Miklagard ("The great town") i.e. Constantinople. Some restless Finns may have joined these traders and raiders, and certainly the Finns have been their customers^[1] and so, slowly the influence of Christianity started to disseminate among the Eastern Finns, the tribe of Karelians. Staraya Ladoga the first capital of the of the Rus' people, (which is generally considered to denote a ruling class of the Scandinavians), was located in the territory inhabited by the tribe of Karelians.
The earliest traces of Christianity in what is today mainland Finland are representative of the Orthodox Christian tradition. In grave finds one can see that Christianity started to spread its influence in the East in the Orthodox form. Many of the earliest excavated crosses in Finland, dating from the 11th century onward, are similar to a type found in Novgorod and Kiev.^[2] Orthodox parishes are believed to have existed as far to the west as Tavastia, the area inhabitated by the tribe of ''Hämäläiset'' in Central Finland. Some core concepts of the Christian vocabulary in the Finnish language appear to be loans from an early East Slavic language, which in turn has borrowed them from Mediaeval Greek. These include the words for priest (''pappi''), cross (''risti'') and bible (''raamattu'').

Clash between Catholicism and Orthodoxy

Western Finland, which was called by the Swedes Österlandet (the Eastland, not to be confused with Estonia) in mediaeval Swedish language, was of political interest to Sweden. The Swedes sent priests and monks and made also crusades to convert the Finnish tribes of ''Varsinais-suomalaiset'' and ''Hämäläiset'' to the Catholic faith^[3]. Most famous of them was an English bishop Henricus (Henry), who was murdered during his mission in Finland, and became the Patron Saint of Finland.^[4] In the long run the Swedes incorporated the greater part of Finland to their country, and the Novgorodians and later Russians would annex a much smaller part of Finland to their territory.
As Novgorod grew in size, it took a firmer grip on Karelia. There were taxing military patrolling and also missionary activity. The Russians had in 988 been converted to Christianity by the firm order of the ruler of Kiev, prince Vladimir I the Great. He organized missionary activity in every part of Russia.^[5] According to a Novgorodian cronicle, prince Yaroslav son of Vsevovold ordered in 1227 that all Karelians should be baptized.^[6]. The Orthodox Church took a much milder stance to the pagan religion of Eastern Finns than the Roman Catholic Church who converted the Western Finns. Less resistance from the converted, one can surmise. Remnants of old pagan rituals are
still extant among the rural Orthodox population both in Estonia and Karelia (at present especially those areas of Karelia, which are now a part of Russia).
In the middle of the 13th century the inevitable clash between the two expanding countries, Sweden and Novgorod, and the two forms of Christianity they represented, took place. The Swedes wanted to annex the territory of Novgorod, and so did the Teutonic Knights, who ruled the Baltic countries. In 1240 the armies of Novgorod led by Alexander Nevsky (later proclaimed Holy due to his achievements) conquered the Swedish army on the river Neva. Two years later Alexander Nevsky fought against the Teutonic Knights who attacked Novgorod from Estonia, and was victorious again. This meant the end of Western expansion, and the stabilization of the border between Catholicism and Orthodoxy. Smaller raids and skirmishes continued nevertheless. The final border between western and eastern rulership was drawn in the Peace Treaty of Nöteborg, in 1323. Karelia was definitely ceded to Novgorod and Orthodoxy.^[7]

Karelian Monasteries

In the later Middle Ages Novgorod appointed a bishop of Karelia, but he was stationed in Novgorod, and had very little influence on his territory. All in all, Novgorodian authorities were more interested in the taxation of the Karelians than in their spiritual wellfare.
The main missionary work fell to the monasteries that cropped up in the wilderness of Karelia. Two monasteries were founded on islands in Lake Ladoga, which became some centuries later famous: the monasteries of Valaam () and Konevsky Monastery ().
According to tradition, Valaam Monastery was founded by a 10th century Greek monk, Sergius, and his companion, Herman. Some historians, among them Heikki Kirkinen, have placed the founding of the monastery in the middle of the 12th century.^[8] Modern historians consider even this date too early. According to the newest source, found in Russia and published by Natalia Ohtina, Valaam Monastery was founded in 1389 by a monk, Efrem, later canonized as Efrem of Perekomy.^[9]
Valaam monastery had for many centuries an intermittent existence, due to raids and wars between Sweden (Western Finland was by then a part of Sweden) and Russians. It was destroyed and sacked in 1580 and a second time in 1610-11. In 1611 the monastery closed down for a whole century, and its activity got a real upswing only in the period when igumen Nazari became the head of the monastery in 1781.
The history of Konevsky Monastery () is clearer and stands on more reliable sources than that of Valaam. It was founded in 1393 by a Russian monk, Arseny,(later canonized) who had stayed for three years in the monasteries of Mount Athos, Greece. There he was influenced by the hesychastic tradition, the constant repetition of a short prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner."This prayer was to be repeated so long that it became autonomous, not depending on the will, and continuing in the heart day and night.^[10] This prayer became common among people of all social strata in the 19th century, after a Moldavian, Paisy Velikovsky, had translated its chief work, the "Philokalia", the book of "Spiritual Beauty" to Church Slavonic and bishop Feofan into Russian. "The Jesus prayer" is still considered a cornerstone of Orthodox spirituality.^[11]
But back to Arseny. After he left Mount Athos with an Icon of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) with him, he returned to northern Russia (he was, according to tradition, born in Novgorod), and settled down on the island of Konevsky in Lake Ladoga. This island was to the Karelians a sacred place, where every year a horse was sacrificed. Now there grew up a monastery, which got many pilgrims, as the icon of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) was said to work wonders. Both monasteries received
many land grants and became very rich, - which was in contradiction with the monks' ideals.
Konevsky monastery faced the same hazards as Valaam. It was destroyed in the wars of 1577 and
1610-11, and the monks fled to other Russian monasteries taking with them the icon of the Mother of God of Konevsky.^[12]
The monks in the orthodox monasteries often started to feel, after several years in the kinobitic monasteries, a need to live a more solitary life in which it would be easier to live in constant communion with God. They built themselves a solitary hut in some peaceful place outside of a monastery, where they lived under stricter rules than in the kinobitic mother-monastery.
When their spiritual growth deepened, people started to visit them to get their blessing and their advice, they became "starets", elders. This way the Karelian and Finnish forests were populated by spiritually advanced hermits. Often around the hermit's hut or skete, there settled other fighters of the good fight of faith, and so a new monastery was founded. One
of the most important examples of this process was St. Alexander of Svir () 1449 - 1533. He was a Karelian who fought the fight of faith for 13 years in Valaam monastery, but finally left it, and in the end founded a monastery at the river of Svir.^[13]

The years of oppression

The 17th century was a period of religious fanaticism and many religious wars as the newly emerged Protestant countries fought against countries that remained Catholic or Orthodox. At
this time Sweden became a great force, expanding both southward and eastward. In Karelia the Swedish forces destroyed and burnt down to the ground the monasteries of Valaam and Konevsky. Those monks that had not succeeded to fly, were killed. Many peasants met the same fate. In the peace treaty of Stolbova in 1617, Russia was forced to cede Karelia, Ingermanland, Estonia and Latvia to Sweden.^[14]
The Lutheran state church of Sweden tried to convert the Orthodox population. They were not allowed to fetch priests from Russia, which meant in the long run, that they did not have priests at all. The universities of Sweden taught only Lutheran theology. Lutheran books were translated into Slavonic, and the population was forced to read them. As Lutheranism was the only legal religion in Sweden, to be an Orthodox was a handicap in many ways. About 2/3 of the orthodox population preferred to fly to Central Russia than to stay under an oppressive government. They formed the population of Tver Karelia.(The Karelian language and customs were preserved there until the beginning of the 20th century. Many Finnish anthropologists in the 19th century visited Tver Karelia in order to collect samples of old Karelian traditions and language.)The Swedish state encouraged Lutheran Finns to occupy the deserted farms in Karelia. This massive flight of Orthodox Finns away from Finland meant, that never more would Eastern Orthodoxy be the main religion in any part of Finland. However, in the remoter areas of Eastern Finland and Karelia, like Ilomantsi and Taipale, the Eastern Orthodox Christianity survived better.^[15]

Back to the fold of the Russian Orthodox Church

The period of the grandiose expansion of Sweden met its limits in two wars: the Great Northern War which ended in the Peace Treaty of Nystad in 1721 and the Hatt's War 1741-1743 with the Peace Treaty of Åbo 1743. Sweden lost all its provinces in the Baltic region, and a humiliatingly great portion of Eastern Finland to Russia.^[16].
With the ascension of Emperor
Peter the Great to the throne of Russia (1682-1725), with his radical modernisation of Russian government, army, dress and manners, Russia became a formidable political power. The "Autocrat of All Russias" decided to rule also over the Church. He abolished the office of patriarch (the formal name of the Russian archbishop) and limited the power of bishops as well as dioceses. He curtailed also the independence of ordinary parishes who had earlier had the right to choose their priests and manage their finances in the spirit of ''sobornost''. Now, instead, all power in spiritual matters was centralized in the Holy Synod, a creation of the emperor, which became the highest governing instance of the Orthodox Church. The emperor's representative in the meetings of the Holy Synod was the chief-procurator, who had direct access to the emperor.^[17] This pertained also to
the Orthodox Church of Finland until its independence in 1923.^[18]
The Valaam Monastery was re-established on Lake Ladoga. In 1809, all of Finland was annexed by Russia, a country professing the Orthodox faith. Finland, however, became autonomous with an established Lutheran church. Eastern Orthodox Christianity gained, nonetheless, a recognised status in Finland during Russian rule in the 19th century. Most importantly, all persons confessing Orthodox faith were bound by the Orthodox family law. In areas where Orthodox faith was not indigenous, Helsinki, Viipuri and the Karelian Isthmus, Orthodoxy was associated with Russians, the bulk of whom was made up of Russian troops permanently stationed in Finland. In the cities of Helsinki, Turku and Viipuri, there were also a number of Russian emigrants, most of whom were merchants or craftsmen. Most ecclestialistical activity outside Karelia centered around garrison churches. In the rural countryside of Karelia, the local form of Orthodox faith remained somewhat primitive, incorporating many features of older religious practices well into 1930's.
A separate Finnish episcopate with a leading archbishop was established in 1892 under the Russian Orthodox Church.

History in independent Finland and as an autonomous church

Shortly after Finland declared independence from Russia in 1917, the Finnish Orthodox Church declared its autonomy from the Russian Church. Finland's first constitution (1918) granted the Orthodox Church an equal status with the (Lutheran) Church of Finland.^[19]
In 1923, the Finnish Church completely separated from the Russian Church, becoming an autonomous church under the rule of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. At the same time the Gregorian Calendar was adopted. Other reforms introduced after independence include changing the language of the liturgy from Church Slavonic to Finnish and the transfer of the Archiepiscopal seat from Viipuri to Sortavala.
Until World War II, the majority of the Orthodox Christians in Finland were located in Karelia. As a consequence of the war, residents of the areas ceded to the Soviet Union were evacuated to other parts of the country. The monastery of Valamo was evacuated in 1940 and the monastery of New Valamo was founded in 1941 at Heinävesi, on the Finnish side of the new border. Later, the monks from Konevitsa and Petsamo monasteries also joined the New Valamo monastery. The nunnery of Lintula at Kivennapa (Karelian Isthmus) was also evacuated, and re-established at Heinävesi in 1946.
A new parish network was established, and many new churches were built in the 1950s. After the cities of Sortavala and Viipuri were lost to the Soviet Union, the archiepiscopal seat was moved to Kuopio and the diocesan seat of Viipuri was moved to Helsinki. A third diocese was established in Oulu in 1979.
After the Second World War the membership of the Orthodox Church in Finland decreased slowly,
as the Karelian evacuees were settled far from their roots among the Lutheran majority of Finland. Mixed marriages became common and the children were often baptized into the religion of the majority. But quite unexpectedly a "romantical" movement arose in Finland beginning in the 70's onward glorifying Orthodoxy, its "mystical" and visually beautiful services and icons (religious paintings) and its supposedly deeper view of Christianity than that of the Lutheran Church. Conversion to the Orthodox Church became almost a fad, and its membership started to grow.
At the same time Archbishop Paul of Karelia and All Finland (1960-1987) made liturgical changes to the services, that gave the laymen a more active role in the church services, and made the services more open (earlier the clergy stayed a part of the services behind a curtain) and intelligible. Archbishop Paul also stressed the importance of parttaking of the Eucharist as often as possible.

Today

Today, in Finland, Orthodoxy is still benefitting of the "romanticism" described above. New members to the church is also found among the immigrants of Russian and Greek origin. Besides the Karelians, the Skolt Sami population has for several centuries professed the Orthodox faith.^[20] The Orthodox Christian Church has about 60,000 members, or ca. 1.1% of Finland's population (est. 2003). In the easternmost localities more than 10 % of population may be Orthodox. In recent decades, the membership has been steadily growing.^[21][22]
The current primate of the Finnish Orthodox Church is His Eminence Leo, Archbishop of Karelia and All Finland. The church has the same legal status in Finland as does the Evangelical Lutheran Church, including a right to tax its members and corporations owned by its members.
The Finnish Orthodox Church celebrates Easter according to the Western calendar, which is uncommon among the Eastern Orthodox jurisdiction. This has met with some disapproval among the Orthodox Churches elsewhere in the world.

See also

★ Valaam Monastery

★ Konevsky Monastery

★ New Valamo

★ Uspenski Cathedral

★ Herman of Alaska

External links

★ Official page of Finnish Orthodox Church

References

1. "Ortodoksinen kirkko Suomessa" edited by Fr. Ambrosius and Markku Lepistö (1979) p.274
2. http://herkules.oulu.fi/isbn9514270606/html/a3.html
3. Virrankoski, Pentti: "Suomen historia I" (History of Finland I)(2002) p.66
4. Virrankoski, Pentti: "Suomen historia I" (2002) p.66
5. "Ortodoksinen kirkko Suomessa" (The Orthodox Church in Finland) edited by Fr. Ambrosius and Markku Haapio (1979) p.91
6. Virrankoski, Pentti: "Suomen historia I" (The History of Finland) (2002) p.55.
7. "Orthodoxy in Finland, past and present", edited by V. Purmonen (1984)p. 14-15
8. "Orthodoxy in Finland; past and present" edited by V.Purmonen (1984) p.38
9. Virrankoski, Pentti: "Suomen historia I" (2002) p.87
10. Orthodoxy in Finland; Past and Present, ed. by V. Purmonen (1984) p.15.
11. "Ortodoksinen kirkko Suomessa" ed. by Fr. Ambrosius and Veikko Haapio, (1979) p.75
12. "Ortodoksinen kirkko Suomessa" edited by Fr.Ambrosius and Markku
Haapio (1979) p. 278-279
13. E.Piiroinen: "Karjalan pyhät kilvoittelijat"("The holy fighters of faith in Karelia")(1979) p.25-31
14.
"Orthodox Church in Finland" edited by Fr. Ambrosius and M. Haapio (1979) p.107
15. "Ortodoksinen Kirkko Suomessa" ed. by Fr. Ambrosius and M. Haapio (1979) p. 107-113
16. Virrankoski, Pentti: "Suomen historia"I (2002) p. 286,295
17. Hämynen, Tapio:
"Suomalaistajat, venäläistäjät ja rajakarjalaiset" (1995) p.13
18. "Orthodoxy in Finland"
edited by Veikko Purmonen (1984) p. 20
19. http://www.minedu.fi/julkaisut/hallinto/2004/tr32/tr32.pdf
20. Hämynen, Tapio: Ryssänkirkkolaisia vai aitoja suomalaisia? Ortodoksit itsenäisessä Suomessa Cited 24-11-2006 (in Finnish).
21. Helsingin Sanomat 7.8.2005 (in Finnish) cited 24-11-2006
22. Evankelis-luterilaisen kirkon nelivuotiskertomus (Finnish Evangelic-Lutheran Church: Quadriannual report 1996-1999 Cited 24-11-2006 (in Finnish)

External links

★ The Orthodox Church of Finland (Official site)

★ Finnish Orthodox Church - Virtual Finland (Written for Virtual Finland by Archbishop Leo)

★ Valaam Monastery in Russia

★ New Valamo Monastery in Finland

★ OrtoWeb (Learning Environment for R.E)

★ Ortodoksi.net