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Paper short abstract:

Russian speakers from various countries, including Russia and Ukraine, share the same worship communities in Finland. The presentation analyses the reactions and consequences of Russia’s war on Ukraine to these Russian-speaking churches in Finland.

Paper long abstract:

The presentation analyses the reactions and consequences of Russia’s war on Ukraine in the Russian-speaking churches in Finland. Both the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) and the Finnish Orthodox Church (Constantinople Ecumenical Patriarchate) have Russian-speaking services and communities in Helsinki. Furthermore, there are several Russian-speaking Evangelical churches in the Helsinki metropolitan area. Since the annexation of Crimea, Russians and Ukrainians have had tense relations in these communities, but last year, the situation also among them went worse. For example, the St Nicholas Orthodox parish of Moscow Patriarchate made a rule that one may not “talk politics” in the church meetings. On the other hand, the archbishop and other priests of the Finnish Orthodox Church have condemned Russian aggression and Patriarch Kirill’s support to the aggressive war.

This presentation aims to study the reactions and effects of the war on the selected communities with various nationalities as well as ponder the possibilities of the churches in peace-building – or causing conflict – both within the communities and with the wider society. The data come from the communities’ own communications, for example in their official internet pages, as well as from interviews and fieldwork in selected communities.