Religion in Finland - The Reformation

The Reformation

The Protestant reformation reached Sweden and Finland in the 1520s. Its strength derived not from the people or the clergy but from the fact that it was instituted by royal decree. One aspect of Luther's doctrine especially interested King Gustav Vasa: it entitled him to break the secular power of the Church and transfer its income and property to the state.

Sweden accepted the Confession of Augsburg at Uppsala in 1593. Lutheranism became the state religion. It guaranteed the unity of the realm and tolerated no deviation. The Reformation severed all ties with Rome. The supremacy of the Pope was replaced by that of the King of Sweden, who stripped the Church of its income and property. Mikael Agricola, the first Lutheran Bishop of Finland, translated the New Testament into Finnish. Divine services gradually became more Lutheran and were conducted in the vernacular. The monasteries were closed, and priests allowed marrying.

In the period of Lutheran orthodoxy in the 17th and early 18th centuries the Church again had a similar cultural monopoly to that of the Middle Ages. It preached loyalty to the state, instilled a strong sense of Christian morality in the people and taught the Finns to read.

Russia ended Swedish rule over Finland by conquering Finland in the beginning of the 19th century. Finland became a Grand Duchy in the Russian Empire in 1809. Although the ruler was now the Orthodox Tsar rather than a Lutheran king, the Lutheran Church remained the state church of Finland. The Ecclesiastical Act of 1869 loosened the bonds between church and state and increased the independence of the Church. The supreme decision-making body of the Church, the Synod, was founded.