New Orthodox Immigration in Finland

Authors

• Tuomas Martikainen

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23979/fypr.45017

Keywords:

Religion, international migration, immigration, structural adaptation, globalization, Orthodox Christianity, language

Abstract

The Finnish Orthodox Church is the second largest religious organization in Finland
with ca. 57,000 members. During the last 15 years its membership has grown 7%
because of international migration. The migrants are mainly from the former Soviet
Union (e.g. Estonia, Russia and Ukraine), but there are also small groups from,
e.g., Greece, Ethiopia and Romania. The article is a case study of the immigrant
activities in two Orthodox parishes that are located in Helsinki and Turku. Issues
such as organizational support, religious education and transnational connections
are presented. Based on contemporary research on religion and immigration, the
article aims to highlight the speci? c role of language in immigrant organizations, and
it argues that more attention should be given to it as a speci? c factor.