[4][5] During his childhood, he developed a strong Orthodox faith, and he participated in the activities of the local youth association of the Saints Sergius and Herman Brotherhood.
[3] Karhapää also got worried about the growing Lutheran mission work in his home area, and in 1906, he approached Archbishop Sergius of Finland (later patriarch of Moscow) in a letter.
[5] Working for the Saints Sergei and Herman Brotherhood, Karhapää also engaged himself as a catechist in Ilomantsi, going around with Hieromonk Isaaki of the Valamo Monastery, selling prints and literature and conducting popular Christian events, and in 1914 the Viipuri Spiritual Consistory appointed the self-taught Karhapää to be a religion teacher for the entire Kuopio Province, with his salary being paid for by the Grand Duchy of Finland.
However, new malicious rumours were circulated about him, and his activities aroused much hatred among the local Fennomen, as he was considered to be a propagator of the ″Russian faith″ (Finnish: ″Ryssän usko″, the word ryssä being racist slur for Russian).
At that time the Kemi newspaper Perä-Pohjolainen claimed that Karhapää and his father were in favour of the Russian anti-Finnish policies and called them “miserable Finns”.
In addition to this, he was called a strong and ruthless advocate of Russification, who supposedly wanted to lead all Finns into subjugation to Russia.
It was also claimed that he considered himself to be a martyr and that he caused fear in the local population and that he ridiculed the Christian faith and other sacred things and that he deceived simple persons.
[5] According to professor of Church history Kauko Pirinen, this criticism was untoward, since Karhapää's only motivation was his deep religious conviction.
Just before Easter 1917, a meeting of the people of the Ilomantsi Orthodox Parish condemned Karhapää and the Sonkajanranta school as non-national oppression, which was mixed with religion.
[5] The schools of the Karelian Brotherhood in Ladoga Karelia were turned over to the local municipalities, in Sonkajanranta in the autumn of 1917, a fierce nationalist Jäger from near by Kovero became its teacher.
An incriminating piece of evidence was a small icon, found in the pocket of Karhapää's coat, intended for use school instruction.
Karhapää was buried at the Kokonniemi cemetery in Ilomantsi, with a large group of people attending, including both Orthodox and Lutheran Christians.
[5] Johannes Karhapää's name came up when the Synod of Bishops of the Finnish Orthodox Church considered Finns for a possible canonization.
In March 2016, the synod of bishops of the Finnish Orthodox Church made a proposal on the canonization of Johannes Karhapää and Schema-Igumen John of Valamo.
On 29 November 2018, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople “recorded in the Hagiologion of the Orthodox Church” the two proposed names.
[9] A documentary film on Karhapää was aired by Yle in 2008, entitled “The Rise and Fall of an Orthodox Man”, directed by Mikko Keinonen.