Finland Hiippakunta

Back to Finland Page►

The diocese is a church administrative area under the direction of a bishop or archbishop. There are nine Evangelical Lutheran dioceses, three Orthodox diocese, and the Catholic diocese of Helsinki which covers the entire country.

The Archbishop of Turku is the leader of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (Finnish: Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko, Swedish: Evangelisk-lutherska kyrkan i Finland). The archdiocese was created in 1276. Other Lutheran dioceses are located in Tampere, Oulu, Mikkeli, Provoo, Kuopio, Lapua, Helsinki, and Espoo.

The Orthodox Church of Finland (Finnish: Suomen ortodoksinen kirkko, Swedish: Ortodoxa kyrkan i Finland) is led by the Bishop of Helsinki. There are two other diocese, the Othodox Diocese of Oulu, founded in 1979, located in Oulu; and the Diocese of Kuopio and Karelia, founded in 1892, located in Kuopio. Prior to World War II, the seat of the Orthodox Diocese of Kuopio and Karelia was in Viipuri.

The Diocese of Helsinki of the Roman Catholic Church in Finland (Finnish: Katolinen kirkko Suomessa, Swedish: Romersk-katolska kyrkan i Finland) was established in 1955 when Gulielmus Cobben, the apostolic vicar, was ordained Bishop. In the 18th century, the Catholic population of Finland consisted of glassblowers, merchants, tutors, sailors, and soldiers who from German, France, Italy, and Poland