Teemu Jyrki Juhani Sippo S.C.I. (born 20 May 1947) is the former Roman CatholicBishop of Helsinki, from 2009 to 2019. He was the first Finnish-born Catholic Bishop since
Arvid Kurck
Arvid Kurck (also known as Arvid Kurki; 1464 in Vesilahti – 22 July 1522 in Öregrund) was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Turku from 1510 to 1522.Lahti, Finland, into a Lutheran family. He converted to
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
in 1966. Four years later he decided to start studying to become a priest. He became a professed member of the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart in 1970 and entered the seminary at the University of Freiburg. He wrote his Master's thesis on Paul Tillich's principle of Protestantism. His thesis advisor was Karl Lehmann. He was ordained a priest on May 28, 1977.
After that he worked in Helsinki and Jyväskylä. On 16 June 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Bishop of Helsinki, succeeding Josef Wrobel, who had been appointed auxiliary bishop of
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...
. He was consecrated bishop by Karl Cardinal Lehmann on September 5, 2009. His consecration took place in the Turku Cathedral, which is a Lutheran church.
Pope Francis accepted his resignation as bishop on 20 May 2019. Sippo cited health reasons for his early retirement. He had been hospitalized for three months following a fall in December 2018.
References
;Additional sources
* Maarit Olkkola: Unexplained road. Evening Times, 2009, No. 15.8., p 28.
* Fides - Catholic Diocese of Journal 08/2009, p 6.
* Katholische Nachrichten kreuz.net, Der Skandalbischof wurde ernannt, 18.6.2009.
* Teemu Sippo SCJ: Position Paper of marriage to protect the Catholic Church . 19.3.2009. Subsequent Helsinki 11.8.2009.
* Teemu Sippo SCJ: Trenton and the Vatican II exhibition Kotimaa.fi . 17.3.2009. Subsequent Helsinki 11.8.2009.
* Katholische Nachrichten kreuz.net, Wie viele Reserve hat die Kirche noch?, 5.7.2010.
* Fides - Catholic Diocese of Journal 09/2011, p 7, 13/2011, p 6.
* M. Angela Toigo, one mouse prayers, KATT 1984, Helsinki, Finland, .
* Bernhard Welte, Nothingness light. possibility of a new religious experience. The log-books in 2008, Helsinki, Finland, .