The Russian Orthodox Church in Finland ( fi, Venäjän ortodoksinen kirkko Suomessa, russian: Русская православная церковь в Финляндии) is a semi-autonomous part of the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

formed in 1926. An official headquarters of the Moscow Patriarchate, led by Father Viktor Lyutik, was opened in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

in 1999. The Russian Orthodox Church in Finland is organized in two parishes, ''St. Nikolaos Orthodox Parish in Helsinki'' and the ''Intercession Orthodox Parish''. They are maintaining six churches in Helsinki,

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

, Pori and

Sastamala Sastamala () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Pirkanmaa region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water, making it the largest municipality in the Pirkanmaa region in terms of area. The ...

. Total number of registered members is some 3,000, most of them hold Finnish citizenship. The largest community is the St. Nikolaos Orthodox Parish with more than 2,400 members.St. Nicholas Orthodox Parish, Helsinki
Retrieved 8 June 2014. The Spaso-Preobrazenskaja community in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

is under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

History

The

Finnish Orthodox Church The Orthodox Church of Finland ( fi, Suomen ortodoksinen kirkko, lit=Finnish Orthodox Church; sv, Ortodoxa kyrkan i Finland, lit=Orthodox Church in Finland; ) is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Const ...

disengaged from the Russian Orthodox Church in 1923 as a result of the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

and the

Independence of Finland Finland declared its independence on 6 December 1917. The formal Declaration of Independence was only part of the long process leading to the independence of Finland. History Proclamation of Empress Elizabeth (1742) The subject of an indepe ...

. Some of the Orthodox in Finland wanted to retain the traditional Russian ways, like the use of Church Slavonic in liturgy and the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...

, so they formed their own congregation. The first parish, ''Private Orthodox Society'', was established in

Vyborg Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus n ...

. From 1931 to 1945 Russian Orthodox Church in Finland was under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Churches

*Church of the Protection of the Theotokos, Munkkiniemi,

*Saint Nicholas Church, Hietaniemi, Helsinki *Church of Xenia of Saint Petersburg,

Mellunmäki Mellunmäki ( sv, Mellungsbacka) (Slang: ''Meltsi'') has been a quarter of eastern Helsinki, Finland since 1946. Serious construction of the area began in 1950 and it was originally designed for 7000 inhabitants. There are over 8500 inhabitants in ...

, Helsinki *Church of the Dormition,

*Church of Our Lady of Kazan, Pori *Church of St. Serafim of Sarov,

References

External links

{{Christianity in Finland Eastern Orthodoxy in Finland Russian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox Church bodies in Europe