Religion in Finland

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

"Finnish religion" redirects here. For ancient Finnish religion, see
Finnish paganism
.

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Helsinki Cathedral

Orthodox Christians, 0.9% are other Christians and 0.8% follow other religions like Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, folk religion etc.[2] These statistics do not include, for example, asylum seekers who have not been granted a permanent residence permit.[3]

There are two

Finnish Orthodox Church, to which about 1.1% of the population belongs.[4][5][2]
Those who officially belong to one of the two national churches have part of their taxes turned over to their respective church (approximately 1-2% of income).[6]

There are also approximately 44,000 followers of Pentecostal Christianity,

Finnish paganism
was the country's primary religion.

Statistics

Religions in Finland (2022)[2]

  Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (65.15%)
  Orthodox Church of Finland (1.05%)
  Other Christian (0.94%)
  Other Religions (0.84%)
  Unaffiliated (32.02%)
Religion in Finland (Statistics Finland)[8]
Year Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland Finnish Orthodox Church Other No religious affiliation
1900 98.1% 1.7% 0.2% 0.0%
1950 95.0% 1.7% 0.5% 2.8%
1980 90.3% 1.1% 0.7% 7.8%
1990 87.8% 1.1% 0.9% 10.2%
2000 85.1% 1.1% 1.1% 12.7%
2010 78.3% 1.1% 1.4% 19.2%
2011 77.3% 1.1% 1.5% 20.1%
2012 76.4% 1.1% 1.5% 21.0%
2013 75.2% 1.1% 1.5% 22.1%
2014 73.8% 1.1% 1.6% 23.5%
2015 73.0% 1.1% 1.6% 24.3%
2016 72.0% 1.1% 1.6% 25.3%
2017 70.9% 1.1% 1.6% 26.3%
2018 69.8% 1.1% 1.7% 27.4%
2019 68.7% 1.1% 1.7% 28.5%
2020 67.8% 1.1% 1.7% 29.4%
2021 66.6% 1.1% 1.8% 30.6%
2022 65.2% 1.1% 1.8% 32.0%

Most Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (65.2%).

Finnish Orthodox Church (1.1%) and to the Catholic Church (12,434 people or 0.2% of the population).[11]

Other

Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu
and other non-Christian communities (totaling with the Catholics to about 1.8% of the population).

The main Lutheran and Orthodox churches are constitutional

national churches
of Finland with special roles in ceremonies and often in school morning prayers. Delegates to Lutheran Church assemblies are selected in church elections every four years.

The majority of Lutherans attend church only for special occasions like Christmas, Easter, weddings and funerals. The Lutheran Church estimates that approximately 2 percent of its members attend church services weekly. In 2004, the average number of church visits per year by church members is approximately two.[12]

According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll (2010),[13]

  • 33% of Finnish citizens "believe there is a God". (In 2005, the figure was 41%)
  • 42% "believe there is some sort of spirit or life force". (In 2005, the figure was 41%)
  • 22% "do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force". (In 2005, the figure was 16%)

According to Zuckerman (2005), various studies have claimed that 28% of Finns "do not believe in God" and 33 to 60% do not believe in "a personal God".[14]

Christianity

Lutheranism

Main article: Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
Petäjävesi Old Church is an old Lutheran wooden church and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

In 2022, the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Finland had about 3.6 million members, which is 65.2% of the population, registered with a parish. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is an episcopal church, that is governed by bishops, with a very strong tradition of parish autonomy. It comprises nine dioceses with ten bishops and 384 independent parishes.[15] The average parish has 7,000 members, with the smallest parishes comprising only a few hundred members and the largest tens of thousands.[16] In recent years many parishes have united in order to safeguard their viability. In addition, municipal mergers have prompted parochial mergers as there may be only one parish, or cluster of parishes, in a given municipality.[citation needed]

Orthodoxy

Main article: Orthodox Church of Finland
Finnish Orthodox Church
.

The Finnish Orthodox Church (Finnish: Suomen ortodoksinen kirkko; Swedish: Ortodoxa kyrkan i Finland), or Orthodox Church of Finland, is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Church has a legal position as a national church in the country, along with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. With its roots in the medieval Novgorodian missionary work in Karelia, the Finnish Orthodox Church was a part of the Russian Orthodox Church until 1923. Today the church has three dioceses and 60,000 members that account for 1.1 percent of the native population of Finland. The parish of Helsinki has the most adherents.

Catholicism

Main article: Catholic Church in Finland
St Henry's Cathedral, Catholic Diocese of Helsinki, Finland

The Catholic Church in Finland is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. As of 2020 there were 16,000 Catholics out of the country's population of 5.5 million.[17] There are estimated to be more than 6,000 Catholic families in the country, about half native Finns and the rest from international communities.

As of 2018 there are only five Finnish-born priests, and only three of them work in Finland. The current

Catholic Diocese of Helsinki. The Catholic Church in Finland is active in ecumenical matters and is a member of the Finnish Ecumenical Council, even though the worldwide Catholic Church is not a member of the World Council of Churches
.

Other Protestant

Baptist

Main article: Baptists in Finland

Baptists in Finland have existed since the middle of the 19th century

Finnish Baptist Church (Finnish: Suomen Baptistikirkko), Swedish Baptist Union of Finland (Swedish: Finlands svenska baptistsamfund), and two congregations belonging to the Seventh Day Baptists. Additionally, there are several independent Baptist churches. The Baptist movement came to Finland from Sweden in the mid-1800s.[19] The Swedish Baptist Union of Finland includes 13 congregations with approximately 1000 members.[20] The Finnish Baptist Church consists of 14 congregations with about 1500 members.[21]
The Seventh Day Baptist Fellowship includes two congregations with 35 members. The membership and congregation numbers of the independent Baptist churches are unknown.

Minor religions

Neopaganism

Main article:
Finnish neopaganism

Finnish Neopaganism, or the Finnish native faith (

Uralic Communion
.

Buddhism

Main article: Buddhism in Finland

Buddhism in Finland represents a very small percentage of that nation's religious practices. In 2013 there were 5,266 followers of Buddhism in Finland, 0.1% of the population.[22] There are currently 12 Finnish cities that have Buddhist temples: in Helsinki, Hyvinkää, Hämeenlinna, Jyväskylä, Kouvola, Kuopio, Lahti, Lappeenranta, Pori, Salo, Tampere and Turku.[citation needed]

Bahá'í Faith

Main article: Baháʼí Faith in Finland

While no statistics on the numbers of Baha'is have been released, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland estimated the 2004 population of Bahá'ís to be approximately 500. Operation World, another Christian organization, estimated 0.01%, also about 500 Bahá'ís, in 2003.

In 2020 there was an estimate of 1668 Baha'í followers, according to the Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Encyclopedia).[23]

Hinduism

Main article: Hinduism in Finland

Hinduism is a very minor

Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art. The museum later removed the picture from its website.[25]

Islam

Main article: Islam in Finland

The first

Muslims were Tatars who immigrated mainly between 1870 and 1920. After that there were decades with generally a small number of immigration in Finland
. Since the late 20th century the number of Muslims in Finland has increased rapidly due to immigration.

According to the Finland official census (2022), there are 22,261 people in Finland belonging to registered Muslim communities.[26] However, the vast majority of Muslims in Finland do not belong to any registered communities. It is estimated that there are between 120,000 and 130,000 Muslims in Finland (2.3%).[27]

Judaism

Main article: History of the Jews in Finland

Finnish Jews are

Chabad Lubavitch
rabbi is based there. Tampere previously had an organized Jewish community, but it stopped functioning in 1981. The other two cities continue to run their community organizations.

Population register

Percentage of the population in Finland that belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (2021)[28]

Traditionally, the church has played a very important role in maintaining a population register in Finland. The vicars have maintained a church record of persons born, married and deceased in their parishes since at least the 1660s, constituting one of the oldest population records in Europe. This system was in place for over 300 years. It was only replaced by a computerised central population database in 1971, while the two national churches continued to maintain population registers in co-operation with the government's local register offices until 1999, when the churches' task was limited to only maintaining a membership register.[29]

Between 1919 and 1970, a separate Civil Register was maintained of those who had no affiliation with either of the national churches.[29] Currently, the centralised Population Information System records the person's affiliation with a legally recognised religious community, if any.[30] In 2003, the new Freedom of Religion Act made it possible to resign from religious communities in writing. That is, by letter, or any written form acceptable to authorities. This is also extended to email by the 2003 electronic communications in the public sector act.[31] Resignation by email became possible in 2005 in most magistrates. Eroakirkosta.fi, an Internet campaign promoting resignation from religious communities, challenged the rest of the magistrates through a letter to the parliamentary ombudsman. In November 2006, the ombudsman recommended that all magistrates should accept resignations from religious communities via email.[32] Despite the recommendation by the ombudsman, the magistrates of Helsinki and Hämeenlinna do not accept church membership resignations sent via the Eroakirkosta.fi service.[33]

Freedom of religion

In 2023, the country was scored 4 out of 4 for religious freedom.[34]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Religion in Finland.
  1. ^ "State church sees net loss of membership in 2019". 28 January 2020. Archived from the original on 11 June 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Belonging to a religious community by age and sex, 2000-2022". Tilastokeskuksen PX-Web tietokannat. Government. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023. Note these are official state religious registration numbers, people may be registered yet not practicing/believing and they may be believing/practicing but not registered.
  3. ^ Statistics Finland. "Statistics Finland – About statistics – Population structure". Archived from the original on 31 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Kolme neljästä suomalaisesta kuuluu luterilaiseen kirkkoon". HS.fi (in Finnish). Sanoma. 1 February 2013. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Kirkon väestötilasto 2012". ORT.fi (in Finnish). Suomen ortodoksinen kirkko. 23 January 2012. Archived from the original on 28 May 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  6. ^ "Finland". Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  7. ^ "Helluntaiseurakuntien jäsenmäärä pienimmillään 25 vuoteen". suomenhelluntaikirkko.fi (in Finnish). Suomen helluntaikirkko. 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  8. ^ a b c "Population". Statistics Finland. Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  9. ^ "Eroakirkosta.fi-palvelulla 500 000 käyttäjää – Uskontokuntiin kuulumattomien osuus kaksinkertaistunut". Archived from the original on 14 January 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Up to 18,000 Finns leave Lutheran Church over broadcasted anti-gay comments". Helsingin Sanomat. 18 October 2010. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  11. ^ "Statistics". Catholic Diocese of Helsinki. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  12. ^ "International Religious Freedom Report 2004". U.S. Department of State. 15 September 2004. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2007.
  13. ^ "Special Eurobarometer Biotechnology" (PDF). Fieldwork: January–February 2010; Publication: October 2010. p. 204. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  14. ISBN 978-1-139-00118-2. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2019.: 50  Some requoted at http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_atheist.html Archived 22 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ "Seurakunnat". evl.fi (in Finnish). Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. 2018. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  16. ISBN 951-0-27265-5
    .
  17. ^ "Finland". Catholics & Cultures. 13 October 2009. Archived from the original on 6 April 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  18. ^ "Baptismen i Finland och som en världsvid trosgemenskap | Finlands Svenska Baptistsamfund". Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Baptismen i Finland och som en världsvid trosgemenskap | Finlands Svenska Baptistsamfund". Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Om oss | Finlands Svenska Baptistsamfund". Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  21. ^ "Baptisti.fi | Suomen Baptistikirkko". www.baptisti.fi. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  22. ^ "Finland Religion Facts & Stats". Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  23. ^ "National Profiles | World Religion". thearda.com. Archived from the original on 14 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  24. ^ http://www.nordiclabourjournal.org/i-fokus/in-focus-2010/theme-joint-nordic-drive-for-more-foreign-labour/finlands-welfare-system-appeals-to-indian-it-engineers%7CNordic[permanent dead link] Labour Journal: Finland's welfare system appeals to Indian IT engineers
  25. ^ Pournima, Falgun (10 March 2009). "Helsinki: Nude man photo upsetting Hindus removed from website". Hindu Janajagruti Samiti. Archived from the original on 20 January 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  26. ^ "Finland: individuals in Muslim communities 2021". Statista. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  27. ^ "Muslimien määrä Suomessa herättää tunteita" (in Finnish). 30 July 2022. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  28. ^ "Key figures on population by region, 1990–2021". stat.fi. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  29. ^
    Population Register Centre. Archived from the original
    on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  30. ^ "Rekisteriselosteet". VRK.fi (in Finnish). Väestörekisterikeskus. Archived from the original on 13 May 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  31. ^ "Act on Electronic Services and Communication in the Public Sector". FINLEX.fi. 16 October 2003. Archived from the original on 6 June 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  32. ^ Jääskeläinen, Petri (30 November 2006). "Dnro 2051/4/05". Eduskunta.fi (in Finnish). Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  33. ^ Eroakirkosta.fi – Helsingin maistraatti jarruttaa kirkosta eroamista Archived 31 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  34. ^ "Finland: Freedom in the World 2022 Country Report". Freedom House. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
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