Religion in Finland - The Church in Independent Finland

The Church in Independent Finland

In 1917 Russia plunged into the chaos of the Revolution: Finland seized the opportunity on December 6, 1917, and Parliament approved the declaration of independence. Shortly after the declaration, civil war broke out in Finland. It was a war between the Government forces, known as the Whites, and left-wing forces known as the Red Guard, inspired by the Bolshevik Revolution. The Reds wanted to create a socialist Finland, possibly in union with emerging Soviet Russia. Virtually the entire clergy supported bourgeois Finland, the Whites.

Relations between the Church leadership and the organized working class remained distant, while the victors began to see the Church as the bastion of the legal order, the national tradition and Western culture. It was expected to foster moral citizens, loyal to the state.

The Winter War against the Soviet Union (1939–1940) was characterized as a struggle in defense of "home, faith and fatherland". The Church was a source of support and unity during this struggle. The will to defend one's country had religious overtones. The administrative and financial independence of the church increased during the war. The Church Central Fund was established in 1941, and the Church Council and an expanded Bishops' Conference in 1944. Links with the labor movement also improved during the Second World War.

The Church took on new tasks after the war, for example family counseling. Church social work (diaconal) expanded rapidly, as did youth work. In independent Finland the state has taken over some of the functions that formerly belonged to the Church. Nevertheless, the Evangelical Lutheran and Orthodox Churches still retain duties that could in principle be performed by either the state or local government.

In the mid-sixties Finnish culture was shaken by migration from rural to urban areas, emigration, growing influence from abroad, the pluralistic image of the world conveyed by television and the universal crisis of authority. The Church, too, was branded undemocratic and conservative. From the 1970s onwards discussion of ethical issues and interest in religion has been on the increase.

The economic situation in Finland has shown mainly clear improvement in the post-war period except at the beginning of the 1990s, when the country was hit by an unusually severe recession. This created a divide between the poor and the wealthy. It fell to the Church to plug many of the gaps left open by the social welfare system. More people sought help through the Church's network of diaconal provision; an increasing proportion of those in need of assistance were of working age. The parishes continued to provide meals for the unemployed, and more food banks were introduced.

The economic uncertainty and the Church's contributions in these circumstances led to increasingly positive attitudes towards the Church. There was a decline in the number of those leaving the Church, and an increase in the number of new members joining.