Opponents organise as women priests face abuse in Finland’s church

A small but vocal minority opposing women priests has tightened its ranks ahead of parish elections, while female clergy report belittling and abusive messages, Yle reports.

Research indicates that 2 to 4 percent of parish members oppose women’s ordination. A few small conservative revival movements form an influential minority in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, where half of all priests are women.

The church’s three female bishops have also received criticism. Mari Leppänen, bishop of the Archdiocese of Turku, says messages on social media and by email contain misogyny. They describe female priests as heretics and make openly derogatory claims about women’s mental abilities and suitability for working life.

Mari Parkkinen, bishop of the Diocese of Mikkeli, says opposition to female priests stems from a narrow, conservative interpretation of the Bible. Kaisamari Hintikka, bishop of the Diocese of Espoo, says female priests have faced increasing discrimination in recent years. She says it is often framed in religious language, but that gender is the decisive issue. Hintikka says the people sending inappropriate feedback are mainly men.

A church employee health and wellbeing survey conducted in the early 2020s found that female priests reported belittling, name-calling and challenges to their priesthood unusually often, says Kati Tervo-Niemelä, a professor of theology at the University of Eastern Finland. Congregations have had to set firm limits on what can be said within their work communities, she says, but it is often impossible to control feedback from outside the workplace.

Six missionary organisations opposed to women priests founded a new association, Kirkkokansan liitto, at the end of October. Its members are Laestadianernas Fridsföreningars förbund, Länsi-Suomen Rukoilevaisten yhdistys, Suomen Evankelis-Luterilainen Kansanlähetys, Suomen Luterilainen Evankeliumiyhdistys, Svenska Lutherska Evangeliföreningen and Suomen Raamattuopiston säätiö.

The association’s chair, Lauri Vartiainen, says the groups had planned to work together for nearly five years. He says they believe their room to operate within the Lutheran Church has narrowed, as the church has changed more than the revival movements have.

The church approved women as priests 40 years ago. It ordains only theologians who agree to work with all priests and bishops, regardless of gender. Vartiainen says the groups’ traditional view of ministry prevents their members from getting parish jobs or being ordained, and that some congregations have ended long-standing cooperation with them after a change of parish pastor.

Parish pastors are responsible for all worship in their area, and permission from a diocesan chapter is required to hold communion outside church premises. The diocesan chapters in Espoo and Turku have ruled that services and communion cannot be held if female priests are excluded. Hintikka says they will not grant permission for such arrangements, although some groups have proceeded without asking.