Pope Leo has described them as a true 'model' for others, and for good reason: the Ecumenical Delegation of Finland visited the pontiff at the Vatican during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
RAIMO GOYARROLA
Bishop of Helsinki
The Pope paid us this compliment, which is a reality: we are the model of ecumenism. I always say that we are 'the paradise of ecumenism.'
Finland is the model country for ecumenism, and for many years we have had very deep ecumenism, ecumenism based on great friendship.
Raimo Goyarrola has been the Bishop of Helsinki since 2023, when he was appointed by Pope Francis. He has spent 20 years serving the Church in Finland. Looking back on the last two decades, the bishop expressed his gratitude to God for the growing amount of Catholics there.
RAIMO GOYARROLA
Bishop of Helsinki
Thanks be to God, we are growing in numbers, and I hope that this growth will also be reflected economically.
We are poor, and perhaps that is why we have so many fruits of conversion and growth.
Last year, I believe it was the year with the highest number of adult baptisms in the history of the Church in Finland.
But although the Catholic faithful are increasing, the economic conditions are not the most favorable. Despite existing in an affluent country, the Finnish Church is paradoxically one of the poorest churches in Europe.
RAIMO GOYARROLA
Bishop of Helsinki
We are a very poor church, made up of more than 120 nationalities. A truly Catholic Church, many of them immigrants and quite a few refugees; a poor church because we live day to day, but sometimes we don’t even make it through the day. We have eight parishes, four of which we cannot afford to heat.
Barely 0.2% of the population in Finland is Catholic. Meanwhile 65%, the majority, is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
But the different religious denominations have handled coexistence very well, thanks to a pre-established dynamic of cooperation.
RAIMO GOYARROLA
Bishop of Helsinki
This ecumenical council of churches is truly very effective; it works very well. We have meetings: every month there is some activity, some meeting, some time of prayer. It is also organized at the city and local levels, with many ecumenical gatherings.
It was in this ecumenical mode that Lutherans, Orthodox Christians, and Catholics from Finland met with Pope Leo, bearing witness to the shared beliefs of Christian faith, fraternity, and the pursuit of the common good.
AT
