Religion in Finland
This was caused by statements regarding homosexuality and same-sex marriages perceived to be intolerant towards LGBT people made by a conservative bishop and a politician representing Christian Democrats in a TV debate on the subject.
[7] Other Protestant denominations are significantly smaller, as are the Sikhs, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and other non-Christian communities (totaling with the Catholics to about 1.8% of the population).
The majority of Lutherans attend church only for special occasions like Christmas, Easter, weddings and funerals.
Today the church has three dioceses and approximately 58,000 members that account for 1 percent of the native population of Finland.
[15] There are estimated to be more than 6,000 Catholic families in the country, about half native Finns and the rest from international communities.
Raimo Goyarrola (appointed 29 September 2023), who succeeded Bishop Teemu Sippo after he abdicated in May 2019 due to old age.
There are two main organisations of the religion, the Association of Finnish Native Religion (Suomalaisen kansanuskon yhdistys ry) based in Helsinki and officially registered since 2002, and the Pole Star Association (Taivaannaula ry) headquartered in Turku with branches in many cities, founded and officially registered in 2007.
The Association of Finnish Native Religion also caters to Karelians and is a member of the Uralic Communion.
[20] There are currently 12 Finnish cities that have Buddhist temples: in Helsinki, Hyvinkää, Hämeenlinna, Jyväskylä, Kouvola, Kuopio, Lahti, Lappeenranta, Pori, Salo, Tampere and Turku.
[citation needed] While no statistics on the numbers of Baha'is have been released, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland estimated the 2004 population of Bahá'ís to be approximately 500.
In 2020 there was an estimate of 1668 Baha'í followers, according to the Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Encyclopedia).
Finland acquired a significant Hindu population for the first time around the turn of the 21st century due to the recruitment of information technology workers from India by companies such as Nokia.
[22] In 2009, Hindu leaders in Finland protested the inclusion of a photograph that "denigrates Hinduism" in an exhibit at the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art.
Since the late 20th century the number of Muslims in Finland has increased rapidly due to immigration.
Jews, like Finland's other traditional minorities as well as immigrant groups, are represented on the advisory board for Ethnic Relations (ETNO).There are two synagogues: one in Helsinki and one in Turku.
Helsinki also has a Jewish day school, which serves about 110 students (many of them the children of Israelis working in Finland); and a Chabad Lubavitch rabbi is based there.
Traditionally, the church has played a very important role in maintaining a population register in Finland.
[27] Currently, the centralised Population Information System records the person's affiliation with a legally recognised religious community, if any.
Eroakirkosta.fi, an Internet campaign promoting resignation from religious communities, challenged the rest of the magistrates through a letter to the parliamentary ombudsman.
[30] Despite the recommendation by the ombudsman, the magistrates of Helsinki and Hämeenlinna do not accept church membership resignations sent via the Eroakirkosta.fi service.
