New Archbishop of Turku and Finland Elected

Bishop Kari Mäkinen was elected on Thursday 12 March to be the next Archbishop of Turku and Finland, to succeed Archbishop Jukka Paarma who retires in June. Bishop Mäkinen has a doctorate in theology, and has been a parish priest, a professor of Church History and since 2006, Bishop of Turku. He is married to a priest, the Revd Eija Mäkinen. They have four children.

The vote was a run-off election between the two top two candidates of a previous round. Bishop Mäkinen, thought to be the more liberal candidate, won 593 votes while the runner-up Dr Miikka Ruokanen, Professor of Dogmatics at the University of Helsinki won 582.

Within the Archdiocese of Turku, the Archbishop and Bishop both act with full episcopal authority under an agreed division of pastoral responsibility for oversight of distinct deaneries. In addition, the Archbishop acts as the chairperson of several national church bodies including the General Synod, the Church Council and the Bishops’ Conference. The Archbishop, as chairman of the Board of International Relations, is also responsible for many international duties.

80% of the Finnish people are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland which is organised in 9 dioceses. The Church of England is in communion with the Finnish Church through the Porvoo Agreement. We have extensive work covering 9 cities in the country. The chaplain, the Revd Rupert Moreton, is based in Helsinki and is assisted by three other licensed clergy, three readers and many priests of the Finnish Church who have Permission to Officiate, under the Porvoo Agreement. Information on the Anglican Church in Finland can be found here.

The frrst bishop in Finland is believed to be St Henry, an Englishman, who died in 1156. He is the country's patron saint.

The new Archbishop will be installed on 6 June.

Comments

  1. Varnas23 May 2010 at 13:14

    I would like to get in contact with the new archbishop of Finland because I was listening to a speech of him on the radio were he said that the church is for human rights and because I have no other place to go.
    The police in Finland made forgeries, lied under oath and lied about evidence and I was convicted based on " motive" alone ( according to my lawyer )My computer art worth 42.000 Euro was taken by the police and I was fined 21.000 Euro for libeling a black man from the google group profile da-hui(ad)telex.co.uk
    I was in jail when da-hui(ad)telex.co.uk posted and could not have been that poster nor is the domain telex.co.uk my domain
    I wrote 150 emails to the Finnish press and human rights organizations but never got a reply.
    Perhaps the archbishop can help me.
    My name is Dimitrios Xenos and he can find my address in Turku

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown15 October 2010 at 10:13

    Accept my warm wishes for getting elected as Archbishop of Turku and Finland.It was really close competition between you and Mr Miikka Ruokanen. Many people were expecting Ruokanen as Archbishop. But now Turku cathedral is blessed by your path and we hope to see a great changes ahead.This election resulted in increase nos of tourist visitors to see the new archbishop.
    turku finland tourism

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Farewell to the Diocese in Europe

Image
Deacon Frances and I packed up our office yesterday and turned over our official files, emails and equipment. Thus a close working together for 22 years comes to an end. So it is hard to believe that today, St David's day, a new chapter begins, after 44 years of stipendiary ministry, 22 years as deacon then priest and 22 as a bishop.  Here are just a few memories from the last couple of months...   But now it is time to begin a new chapter.  O God, by whose command the order of time runs its course: forgive our impatience, perfect our faith and, while we await the fulfilment of your promise, grant us to have a good hope because of your Word,  even Jesus Christ our Lord. (St Gregory Nazianzus, 330 - 390)
Read more

Archbishop of Canterbury's Pentecost Letter: A European Consequence

Image
In his Pentecost letter, the Archbishop of Canterbury warned of certain consequences for provinces of the Anglican Communion which have failed to stand by the three moratoria . (No authorisation of blessings services for same-sex unions; no consecrations of bishops living in same-sex relationships; and no bishop authorising any ministry within the diocese of another bishop without explicit permission). One consequence would be that representatives from such provinces w ould not be able to participate in the formal international interchurch dialogues of the Communion. One of those dialogues is the Anglican-Old Catholic International Co-ordinating Council ( AOCICC ), the official instrument set up to deepen the relationship of communion established in 1931 between the Anglican Communion and the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht . As the member Churches of the Union of Utrecht are all European, the AOCICC is effectively a European body. (I am one of the members, appo...
Read more

Bishop Austin Rios of California

Image
It was a joyful, colourful, multicultural three-hour liturgy. At Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, the Revd Austin Rios was consecrated the bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of California. I have known Austin from his time as the Rector of St Paul's Episcopal Church in Rome, where he was a great friend and collaborator with our own Church of England All Saints Chaplaincy in that city. The liturgy, appropriately, marked the multiculural make-up of the diocese, with prayers, readings, hymns and songs in English, Spanish, Tagalog, Tonga and Mandarin. The final procession was led by a Chinese dragon! I was told that there were about 300 in the procession and 2000 present in the beautiful gothic cathedral on Nob Hill San Francisco. My good friend and ecuenical colleague from Rome Fr Keith Peckers SJ was also in attenance, so the Church of Rome and the Church of England were both represented! Among the bishop friends present were Bishop Mark Edington of the Episcopal Convocation in Europe, a...
Read more