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| Diocese of Helsinki Dioecesis Helsinkiensis Helsingin hiippakunta (Finnish) Helsingfors stift (Swedish) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Country |  Finland |
| Territory | All Finland |
| Metropolitan | Immediately subject to the Holy See |
| Coordinates | 60°9′33.04″N 24°57′15.98″E / 60.1591778°N 24.9544389°E / 60.1591778; 24.9544389 |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 338,424 km (130,666 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics | (as of 2018) 5,501,267 15,000 ( 0.2%) |
| Parishes | 8 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 1920 Established as Vicariate Apostolic of Finland; 1955 Erected as Diocese of Helsinki |
| Cathedral | St. Henry's Cathedral |
| Secular priests | 30 |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Raimo Goyarrola |
| Map | |
 The diocese of Helsinki comprises the entirety of the Republic of Finland. Helsinki is marked as a red dot. | |
| Website | |
| katolinen.fi | |
The Diocese of Helsinki (Latin: Dioecesis Helsinkiensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church based in Helsinki, which comprises the whole of Finland. The diocese is divided into eight parishes. As of 2018, there are 15,000 registered and 10,000 unregistered Catholics living in Finland. There are more than 6,000 Catholic families in the country; 50 percent are Finnish and 50 percent are of international origin.
Bishop Raimo Goyarrola of Spain was chosen by Pope Francis to lead the diocese in September 2023. The bishopric was vacant from May 2019 when Bishop Teemu Sippo resigned due to poor health.
Parishes
- St. Henry's Cathedral, Helsinki (Sub Centres - Tapanila (Vantaa), Porvoo)
- St. Mary's Church, Helsinki (Sub Centres - Olari (Espoo), Hyvinkää, Karis)
- St. Brigit & Blessed Hemming Church, Turku (Sub Centres - Åland, Eurajoki, Pori)
- St. Olav's Church, Jyväskylä
- Holy Cross Church, Tampere (Sub Centres - Hämeenlinna, Kokkola, Kristinestad, Jakobstad, Seinäjoki, Vaasa)
- St. Ursula's Church, Kouvola (Sub Centres - Hamina, Kotka, Lahti, Lappeenranta)
- Holy Family of Nazareth Church, Oulu (Sub Centres - Rovaniemi, Tornio, Kemi, Kajaani)
- St. Joseph's Church, Kuopio (Sub Centres - Mikkeli, Savonlinna, Joensuu, Lieksa)
There is a high demand for starting a new parish at Northern Finland at Rovaniemi as it is the major tourist destination for Lapland and Santa Claus.
History
In 1550, the episcopate of the last Roman Catholic bishop of Åbo ended. Thereafter Lutheranism prevailed in Finland. The Reformation in the sixteenth century caused the loss of almost all of Northern Europe from the Roman Catholic Church. In 1582 the stray Catholics in Finland and elsewhere in Northern Europe were placed under the jurisdiction of a papal nuncio in Cologne. The Congregation de propaganda fide, on its establishment in 1622, took charge of the vast missionary field, which - at its third session - it divided among the nuncio of Brussels (for the Catholics in Denmark and Norway), the nuncio at Cologne (much of Northern Germany) and the nuncio to Poland (Finland, Mecklenburg, and Sweden).
In 1688, Finland became part of the Apostolic Vicariate of the Nordic Missions. In 1783, the Apostolic Vicariate of Sweden was created out of parts of the Nordic Missions comprising then Finland and Sweden. In 1809, when Finland came under Russian rule, the Roman Catholic jurisdiction passed on to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Mohilev (then seated in St. Petersburg). In 1920, the Vatican established the Apostolic Vicariate of Finland which was upgraded to the Diocese of Helsinki in 1955.
Episcopal ordinaries
Apostolic Vicars of Finland
- Henri Buckx, SCI (1923–1933)
- Willem Cobben, SCI (1933–1955)
Bishops of Helsinki
- Willem Cobben, SCI (1955–1967)
- Paul Verschuren, SCI (1967–1998)
- Józef Wróbel, SCI (2001–2008)
- Teemu Sippo, SCI (2009–2019 )
- Raimo Goyarrola (2023 - )
See also
References
- "Katolinen.net".
- "Renuncias y nombramientos, Nombramiento del Obispo de Helsinki (Finlandia)". Vatican City: Boletín de la Oficina de Prensa de la Santa Sede. 2023-09-29. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
- "Resignations and Appointments, 20.05.2019" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
- "Diocese of Helsinki". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
- "Resignations and Appointments". press.vatican.va.
