Church assembly to elect new archbishop at Valamo Monastery in Heinävesi

A church assembly will convene on Monday at the Valamo Monastery in Heinävesi to elect a new archbishop for the Finnish Orthodox Church. The current archbishop, Leo, who oversees both Karelia and the entire country, is retiring after serving in the role since 2001.

Candidates for the position will be nominated during the assembly, with the leading contenders likely to be three current bishops: Metropolitan Arseni of Kuopio and Karelia, Metropolitan Elia of Oulu, and Bishop Sergei of Hamina, who also serves as assistant bishop in Helsinki.

The assembly is composed of four bishops, 11 clergy members, three representatives of cantors, and 17 laypersons elected by the congregations. According to Teemu Toivonen, a university lecturer at the University of Eastern Finland, the governance model of the Finnish Orthodox Church is unique worldwide. He notes that it is quite unusual for a church assembly to include bishops, clergy, and laypeople who collectively participate in deciding on the archbishop.

The nomination process begins on Tuesday in a closed session where representatives can propose candidates. Following this, the council of bishops, led by the archbishop, will confirm the candidates’ suitability in accordance with church rules. Additionally, metropolitans from Estonia and Turkey have been invited to assist if necessary since the nominees cannot participate in their own nomination.

The election is scheduled for Thursday at the monastery’s main church. The new archbishop will need to secure more than half of the votes cast. If no candidate receives a majority in the first round, a second round will feature the two candidates with the highest votes.

Currently, around 56,000 members are officially registered in the Finnish Orthodox Church, representing about one percent of the population. However, the actual number of Orthodox individuals may be double this figure due to the presence of Ukrainian war refugees, with two-thirds identifying as Orthodox. Notably, approximately 40 percent of Finnish Orthodox members belong to the Helsinki parish.