Ericus Erici Sorolainen (1546–1625) was a Finnish

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, a Bishop of Turku from 1583 to 1625 as the successor to Paulus Juusten; and the administrator of the Diocese of Viipuri. After his ordination to priesthood, he was sent to

University of Rostock The University of Rostock () is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in continental northern Europe and the Baltic Se ...

(rector of which was then David Chytraeus).Se
entry of Ercius Erici
in the Rostock Matrikelportal After his studies he became 1578 headmaster of the school in

Gävle Gävle ( ; ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 79,004 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the List of cities in Sweden, 13th-most-populated city in Sweden. I ...

. 1583 he was consecrated as bishop together with Petrus Benedicti of Linköping, Nicolaus Stephani of Växjö, and Christian Agricola of Tallinn with catholic ceremonies of the liturgy of John III. Soon after their episcopal consecration, these bishops had to sign a commitment to new Church Order (''Nova Ordinantia''), king John's liturgy, medieval tradition of church music and to use of some specific episcopal ceremonies, in addition to emphasis on study of

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. This was part of the Liturgical Struggle. King John even planned sending Sorolainen to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

for ecumenical dialogue with

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. This dialogue was already formerly initiated by Tübingen theologians with Patriarch Jeremias II of Constantinople. Later in Synod of Uppsala (1593), bishop Sorolainen together with Bishop Olaus Stephani Bellinus made secretly Calvinist Duke Charles his enemy by initiative of banning Calvinism in Sweden, which was decided by the synod. When Duke Charles became Regent, after his

War against Sigismund The war against Sigismund () was a war between Duke Charles, later known as King Charles IX of Sweden, and Sigismund III Vasa, Sigismund, who was at the time the king of both Kingdom of Sweden (1523–1611), Sweden and the Polish–Lithuanian Co ...

, son of his brother John III, he used his opportunity to revenge to Bishop Sorolainen by imprisoning him for alleged "popery", which was although annulled by Diet of Lingköping. 1609 King Charles seems to have forgotten his earlier anger and distrust to Sorolainen. Sorolainen was also a noted writer, publishing his first work in 1614. He translated into Finnish the service book of 1614, wrote a large catechism (1614). Between 1621 and 1625 he published a book of sermons in Stockholm entitled ''Postilla''.

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*Martti Parvio's biography in the reprint of Postilla. *
Ericus Erici
article in Nordisk familjebok
Liturgical Developments in Sweden and Finland in the Era of Lutheran Orthodoxy (1593–1700)
by Toivo Harjunpää (

JSTOR JSTOR ( ; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources founded in 1994. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary source ...

) Lutheran archbishops and bishops of Turku 16th-century Lutheran bishops 17th-century Finnish Lutheran bishops Lutheran sermon writers 1546 births 1625 deaths 16th-century Finnish clergy 17th-century Finnish Lutheran clergy {{Finland-Lutheran-bishop-stub

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