Eparhy of Vyborg and Finland

Subject / Religion. Church/Confession life
The Eparchy of Vyborg and Finland. In 1809 Finland was included into the Russian Empire. There were about twenty five thousand members of the Orthodox Church (the majority of members was in the Ladoga rigion) in sixteen parishes of Finland in 1809. In 1823 the Orthodox Ecclesiastical administration was established in Vyborg. After 1844 prayer books and Catechism were gradually being translated into Finnish, church - parish schools were established. In 1859 the Vyborg suffragancy was established. Thirteen vicars were changed during thirty three years. During 1887-1898 vicar bishop Anthony (Vadkovsky) was the Head of the Vyborg suffragancy cathedra, from 1892 the cathedra became independent and bishop Anthony became a ruling bishop, bishop of Finland and Vyborg. During the rule of Anthony the Lintulsky Monastery of the Holy Trinity was founded (1885), the Commission for the tranlation of prayer books into Finnish was established, the Brotherhood of Venerable Sergy of Valaam and venerable German of Valaam was founded (1885) for publishing religious- moral literature in the Finnish language. The eparchy was considered the smallest in Russia according to the number of the faithful (in 1901 there were fifty thousand members of the Orthodox Church and thirty three parishes). A great deal of churches was founded in country places as well as at branches of ecclesiastical - educational and charity societies in the Karelian Isthmus between the 19th and 20th centuries. Diring 1899-1905 the Eparchy was ruled by bishop Nicholas (Nalimov), during 1905-1917 archbishop Sergy (Stragorodsky) was the Head of the Eparchy. In 1904-1905 the domestic church of Three Saints (architects N.V. Dmitriyev and M.N. Kirillov; it was closed in 1918) was installed in the archbishop's house. In 1910-1911 in Vyborg ""The Finnish Orthodox Collection"" was published, the magazine ""Karelian News"" was published in 1913-1917. Seraphim (Lukyanov) was the vicar bishop of Serdobalsk during 1914-1918. After Finland achieved the independence on 11 February 1921 the Finnish Orthodox Church (FOC) gained the independence from Patriarch Tychon. It was joined to the Contantinopolitan Patriarchate in summer of 1823 according to political motives. In 1925 it was headed by archbishop German (Aav) of Karelia and Finland. Two eparchies was established: the Karelian Eparchy and Vyborg Eparchy which was headed by bishop Alexander (Karpin) in 1935. On the eve of the Soviet - Finland War of 1939-1940 eighty thousand members of the Orthodox Church lived in the country. As a result of the war the Finnish Orthodox Church lost three monasteries ( the Valaam Monastery, the Konevets Monastery and Lintulsky Monastery) which were evacuated and many churches; the cathedra was mooved from Vyborg to Helsinki. On 30 April 1957 the Russian Orthodox Church declared status quo of the Finnish Autonomous Orthodox Church under the jurisdiction of the Contantinopolitan Patriarchate. Now the Finnish Orthodox Church includes three eparchies, about sixty thousand belivers. St Sergy of Valaam and St German of Valaam, Arseny of Konevets, Triphon of Pechenga, Alexander of Svir, German of Alaska are held in high esteem in the Finnish Orthodox Church. Bertash, Aleksandr Vitalyevich
Aleksandr (Aleksandr Petrovich Karpin), bishop
Aleksandr Svirsky, St.
Antony (Aleksandr Vasilyevich Vadkovsky), metropolitan
Arseny Konevsky, St.
Dmitriyev, Nikolay Vsevolodovich
Gherman (Gherman Aav), archbishop
Gherman of Alaska
Kirillov, M.N.
Nikolay (N.A. Nalimov), archbishop
Serafim (Aleksandr Ivanovich Lukyanov), archbishop
Sergius (Ivan Nikolayevich Stragorodsky), patriarch
Tikhon (Vasily Ivanovich Belavin), patriarch
Trifon of Pechenga, St.
Neighbouring Territories/Finland
Topographical landmarks/Karelian Isthmus, the
Topographical landmarks/Priladozhye
Leningrad Oblast, the/Vyborg District/Vyborg Town
Куркимиес И.Н. Православные храмы в Финляндии // Невский архив. Историко-краеведческий сб. Вып. 5. СПб., 2001., С. 472-507
Валаамский монастырь и его подвижники. СПб., 2005, С. 472-507
Финская Православная Церковь. URL: http://www.hierarchy.religare.ru/h-orthod-finn.html, С. 472-507
"Karelskiye izvestiya" ("Karelian News"), a magazine
Lintulsky Convent of the Holy Trinity
Orthodox community of St. Sergius of Valaam and St. Germanicus of Valaam
"Pravoslavny Finlyandsky sbornik" ("Orthodox Finland Collection"), a magazine