Bahá'í Faith in Finland
Encyclopedia
The Bahá'í Faith in Finland began with contact between traveling Scandinavians with early Persian believers of the Bahá'í Faith
in the mid-to-late 19th century while Finland was politically part of the Russian Empire
. In the early 20th century `Abdu'l-Bahá
, then head of the religion, requested Bahá'ís from the United States and Canada consider Scandinavian countries and Russia among the places Bahá'ís should pioneer
to. Later, after Finland gained independence
from Russia, Bahá'ís began to visit the Scandinavia
n area in the 1920s. Following a period of more Bahá'í pioneers coming to the country, Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies spread across Finland while the national community eventually formed a Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly in 1962. Some estimates in 2004 of the Bahá'ís in Finland number about 500 Bahá'ís including a winner of human rights award and a television personality. In 2005 there was an estimate of over 1600 according to the Association of Religion Data Archives
(relying on World Christian Encyclopedia
).
with the Russian Empire
; the first mention of the Báb
, who Bahá'ís view as the herald to the founder of the religion, Bahá'u'lláh, was published in accounts of Persian travels by Scandinavians in 1869, and the first mentions of Bahá'u'lláh
were made in 1896.
, the son of the founder of the religion, wrote a series of letters, or tablets, to the followers of the religion in the United States
in 1916-1917; these letters were compiled together in the book titled Tablets of the Divine Plan
. The seventh of the tablets was the first to mention several countries in Europe
including beyond where `Abdu'l-Bahá had visited in 1911-12. Written on April 11, 1916, it was delayed in being presented in the United States until 1919 — after the end of the First World War and the Spanish flu
. The seventh tablet was translated and presented by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab
on April 4, 1919, and published in Star of the West magazine on December 12, 1919.
Shoghi Effendi
, then head of the religion, visited Finland in 1926. Josephine Kruka, Knight of Bahá'u'lláh
, entered Finland and later, in 1938, Pastor Väinö Rissanen became the first Bahá’í of Finland and the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of Finland was formed in Helsinki
in 1953.
from the Shetland Islands
and married Milton Lundblade. After living some years there she moved to the United States but returned again to Finland to Salo
in the summer of 1984 (in the mean time their first son Laurence Lundblade would later be one of the initial authors of the e-mail client Pine
.) For 1957 through 1962 Finland Bahá'í institutions were part of the regional National Spiritual Assembly of Scandinavia and Finland. In 1960, Hand of the Cause Adelbert Muhlschlegel
visited in Finland. In 1962 Sweden, Finland, and Norway each elected their own National Spiritual Assembly. The members of the National Assembly who participated in the election of the Universal House of Justice
in 1963 were Quentin Hamilton Farrand, Godratollah Bidardel, Jeanne Welsh Farrand, Greta Sofia Jankko-Badeau, Rafael Garcia, Aminda Josephine Kruka, Elsa Maria Cubilla de Garcia, Mozaffar Namdar, Marco Antonio Martinez S., Gudrun Ofstegaard, Marcia Isabel Matamoros, Maija-Liisa Ravola, Mauricio Hernandez Munoz, Sirkka Inkeri Salmi, Josd Marfa Padilla, Mailis Kaarino Talvenheimo, Gabriel Torres S., and Habibu'llah Zabihian. By the end of 1963 there were local spiritual assemblies in Helsinki
, Lahti
, Tampere
, Turku
, and groups of Bahá'ís in Kaaresuvanto and isolated Bahá'ís in Hämeenlinna
, Kilo
, Koski
, Rovaniemi
, and Vartsalo.
, Lithuanian
and Latvian
. Finland was among the national communities that responded to a survey on status of women in the community which was tabulated and summarized for the 1974 Statement to the 25th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. In the mid 1960s in Alaska Angeline Giachery conceived of a plan to spread the religion across the circumpolar area and the idea received attention at the Intercontinental Conference in Helsinki
in 1976 which was also attended by Hand of the Cause Ugo Giachery
. Roma Raciulyte became a Bahá'í during a trip to Finland in the 1970s and is generally considered the first Lithuanian Bahá'í in recent times.
beginning by giving greater freedom to women, promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern, and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics. The religion entered a new phase of activity when a message of the Universal House of Justice
dated 20 October 1983 was released. Bahá'ís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the Bahá'í teachings
, in which they could become involved in the social and economic development of the communities in which they lived. Worldwide in 1979 there were 129 officially recognized Bahá'í socio-economic development projects. By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482. Since the 1980s the Bahá'ís of Finland have greatly diversified their endeavours. In the late 1980s a group of Bahá'í musicians based in Naantali
composed an album, Pohjantähti (North Star) simultaneously in Finnish
and English out of a quest to be culturally creative instead of merely translating foreign interpretations of the religion into song. In 1990 Alaskan Bahá'ís visited Finland as part of a circumpolar campaign to spread the religion especially among indigenous peoples. In January 1998 Dr. Sylvia I. Karlsson lead the Finnish Bahá'í community national convention on a full day seminar on ethical dimensions of Agenda 21
and sustainable development by giving the keynote talk as well as preparing parallel workshops on various chapters of Agenda 21 and summarizing the discussions. The position of the Bahá'í Faith in Finland reached national acknowledgment when in 1999 the educational authorities in Finland included courses mentioning the Bahá'í Faith in the curricula of primary and secondary schools. This relationship between national and civic events continued when in 2002 the Bahá'í community of Lappeenranta
registered their regularly held public meeting for World Religion Day. This discussion was on the subject of world peace with participants of local Christian, civic and Muslim groups building on a decade of efforts. In 2003, Iranian Bahá'í émigré Melody Karvonen was awarded the 2003 Human Rights Worker of the Year by the Finnish League for Human Rights. The same year the government of Finland co-sponsored a resolution of the United Nations
which was passed by a vote of 73 to 49, with 50 abstentions, by the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly expressing "serious concern" over continuing violations of human rights in Iran—and mentions specifically "continuing discrimination" against Bahá'ís and other religious minorities. (see Persecution of Bahá'ís
.) Most recently, in 2003, the play The Seven Valleys was premiered at the Naantali
Theatre and reviewed by Pentti Narvanen of the newspaper Rannikkoseudun sanomat. Based on the work of the same name by Bahá'u'lláh
, the play has since been shown at other venues including in Lappeenranta
. Aram Aflatuni is a Bahá'í TV talk show host of Härkää Sarvista, or "Grab the Bull by the Horns", which aired in Finland in 2007 with a 20 percent of the TV audience for its time period with a format that emphasizes using a panel of experts and cooperative discussions to try to solve it. Hartmut Grossmann was born in Germany, was a lecturer and head of the German Department of the Translators' Training Institute at University of Joensuu in Savonlinna
. He has served on the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá'ís of Germany and of Finland and then ultimately on the Universal House of Justice
. After retiring in 2008, he and his wife, Ursula, moved back to Finland.
estimates the 2004 population of Bahá'ís to be approximately 500. Operation World
, another Christian organization, estimated 0.01%, also about 500 Bahá'ís, in 2003. In 2005 there was an estimate of 1668 according to the Association of Religion Data Archives
(relying on World Christian Encyclopedia
).
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
in the mid-to-late 19th century while Finland was politically part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. In the early 20th century `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
, then head of the religion, requested Bahá'ís from the United States and Canada consider Scandinavian countries and Russia among the places Bahá'ís should pioneer
Pioneering (Bahá'í)
A pioneer is a volunteer Bahá'í who leaves his or her home to journey to another place for the purpose of teaching the Bahá'í Faith. The act of so moving is termed pioneering. Bahá'ís refrain from using the term "missionary"...
to. Later, after Finland gained independence
Finland's declaration of independence
The Finnish declaration of independence was adopted by the Parliament of Finland on 6 December 1917. It declared Finland an independent and sovereign nation state rather than an autonomous Russian Grand duchy.-Revolution in Russia:...
from Russia, Bahá'ís began to visit the Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n area in the 1920s. Following a period of more Bahá'í pioneers coming to the country, Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies spread across Finland while the national community eventually formed a Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly in 1962. Some estimates in 2004 of the Bahá'ís in Finland number about 500 Bahá'ís including a winner of human rights award and a television personality. In 2005 there was an estimate of over 1600 according to the Association of Religion Data Archives
Association of religion data archives
The Association of Religion Data Archives is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. Founded as the American Religion Data Archive in 1997, and online since 1998, the archive was initially targeted at researchers interested in American religion...
(relying on World Christian Encyclopedia
World Christian Encyclopedia
World Christian Encyclopedia is a reference work published by Oxford University Press, known for providing membership statistics for major and minor world religions in every country of the world, including historical data and projections of future populations.The first edition, by David B. Barrett,...
).
Early history
The first mentions of the religion among Scandinavians happened in the era when Finland was politically unitedGrand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed 1809–1917 as part of the Russian Empire and was ruled by the Russian czar as Grand Prince.- History :...
with the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
; the first mention of the Báb
Báb
Siyyid `Alí Muḥammad Shírází was the founder of Bábism, and one of three central figures of the Bahá'í Faith. He was a merchant from Shíráz, Persia, who at the age of twenty-four claimed to be the promised Qá'im . After his declaration he took the title of Báb meaning "Gate"...
, who Bahá'ís view as the herald to the founder of the religion, Bahá'u'lláh, was published in accounts of Persian travels by Scandinavians in 1869, and the first mentions of Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh , born ' , was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment of Bábism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfilment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and...
were made in 1896.
`Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablets of the Divine Plan
`Abdu'l-Bahá`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
, the son of the founder of the religion, wrote a series of letters, or tablets, to the followers of the religion in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1916-1917; these letters were compiled together in the book titled Tablets of the Divine Plan
Tablets of the Divine Plan
The Tablets of the Divine Plan collectively refers to 14 letters written between September 1916 and March 1917 by `Abdu'l-Bahá to Bahá'ís in the United States and Canada. Included in multiple books, the first five tablets were printed in America in Star of the West - Vol. VII, No. 10, September 8,...
. The seventh of the tablets was the first to mention several countries in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
including beyond where `Abdu'l-Bahá had visited in 1911-12. Written on April 11, 1916, it was delayed in being presented in the United States until 1919 — after the end of the First World War and the Spanish flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
. The seventh tablet was translated and presented by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab
Mirza Ahmad Sohrab
Mírzá Aḥmad Sohráb was a Persian-American author and Bahá'í who co-founded the New History Society and the Caravan of East and West in New York, and was excommunicated from the Bahá'í Faith in 1939 by Shoghi Effendi.-Early life:...
on April 4, 1919, and published in Star of the West magazine on December 12, 1919.
"In brief, this world-consuming war has set such a conflagration to the hearts that no word can describe it. In all the countries of the world the longing for universal peace is taking possession of the consciousness of men. There is not a soul who does not yearn for concord and peace. A most wonderful state of receptivity is being realized.… Therefore, O ye believers of God! Show ye an effort and after this war spread ye the synopsis of the divine teachings in the British Isles, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Portugal, Rumania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, San Marino, Balearic Isles, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Crete, Malta, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Shetland Islands, Hebrides and Orkney Islands."
Shoghi Effendi
Shoghi Effendi
Shoghí Effendí Rabbání , better known as Shoghi Effendi, was the Guardian and appointed head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957...
, then head of the religion, visited Finland in 1926. Josephine Kruka, Knight of Bahá'u'lláh
Knights of Bahá'u'lláh
The title Knight of Bahá'u'lláh was given by Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, to Bahá'ís who arose to open new territories to the Faith during the Ten Year Crusade....
, entered Finland and later, in 1938, Pastor Väinö Rissanen became the first Bahá’í of Finland and the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of Finland was formed in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
in 1953.
Growth
In 1957 Finland, Denmark, and other Scandinavian countries formed a regional Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly. In 1959, Brigitte Hasselblatt moved to TurkuTurku
Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
from the Shetland Islands
Shetland Islands
Shetland is a subarctic archipelago of Scotland that lies north and east of mainland Great Britain. The islands lie some to the northeast of Orkney and southeast of the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total...
and married Milton Lundblade. After living some years there she moved to the United States but returned again to Finland to Salo
Salo
Salo may refer to:*Salo, Finland, a town in Western Finland*Salò, a town in Lombardy, Italy**Salò Republic or Italian Social Republic, a puppet state of Nazi Germany*Salo Township, Aitkin County, Minnesota, a township in Minnesota, U.S....
in the summer of 1984 (in the mean time their first son Laurence Lundblade would later be one of the initial authors of the e-mail client Pine
Pine (e-mail client)
Pine is a freeware, text-based email client developed at the University of Washington. The first version of this client was written in 1989. Source code was available for only the Unix version under a license written by the University of Washington...
.) For 1957 through 1962 Finland Bahá'í institutions were part of the regional National Spiritual Assembly of Scandinavia and Finland. In 1960, Hand of the Cause Adelbert Muhlschlegel
Adelbert Mühlschlegel
Adelbert Mühlschlegel was a prominent German Bahá'í from a Protestant family. He became a Bahá'í in 1920, translated Bahá'í literature and served as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Germany....
visited in Finland. In 1962 Sweden, Finland, and Norway each elected their own National Spiritual Assembly. The members of the National Assembly who participated in the election of the Universal House of Justice
Universal House of Justice
The Universal House of Justice is the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith. It is a legislative institution with the authority to supplement and apply the laws of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and exercises a judicial function as the highest appellate institution in the...
in 1963 were Quentin Hamilton Farrand, Godratollah Bidardel, Jeanne Welsh Farrand, Greta Sofia Jankko-Badeau, Rafael Garcia, Aminda Josephine Kruka, Elsa Maria Cubilla de Garcia, Mozaffar Namdar, Marco Antonio Martinez S., Gudrun Ofstegaard, Marcia Isabel Matamoros, Maija-Liisa Ravola, Mauricio Hernandez Munoz, Sirkka Inkeri Salmi, Josd Marfa Padilla, Mailis Kaarino Talvenheimo, Gabriel Torres S., and Habibu'llah Zabihian. By the end of 1963 there were local spiritual assemblies in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, Lahti
Lahti
Lahti is a city and municipality in Finland.Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about north-east of the capital Helsinki...
, Tampere
Tampere
Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...
, Turku
Turku
Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
, and groups of Bahá'ís in Kaaresuvanto and isolated Bahá'ís in Hämeenlinna
Hämeenlinna
Hämeenlinna is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Häme in the south of Finland and is the birthplace of composer Jean Sibelius. Today, it belongs to the region of Tavastia Proper, and until 2010 it was the residence city for the Governor of the...
, Kilo
Kilo, Espoo
Kilo is a district of Espoo, a city in Finland. Kilo is a place of homes and small industry. The head police station of Espoo is located in Kilo....
, Koski
Koski
Koski is a surname originating in Finland . It may also refer to, alphabetically:- People :* Brian Koski , U.S...
, Rovaniemi
Rovaniemi
Rovaniemi is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland. It is situated close to the Arctic Circle and is between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, at the confluence of the Kemijoki River and its...
, and Vartsalo.
Development
Following this period of largely internal development, the Bahá'í Faith in Finland began to be involved in regional developments. In the 1970s and 80s Finland Bahá'ís helped translate Bahá'í literature into EstonianEstonian language
Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
, Lithuanian
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
and Latvian
Latvian language
Latvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...
. Finland was among the national communities that responded to a survey on status of women in the community which was tabulated and summarized for the 1974 Statement to the 25th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. In the mid 1960s in Alaska Angeline Giachery conceived of a plan to spread the religion across the circumpolar area and the idea received attention at the Intercontinental Conference in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
in 1976 which was also attended by Hand of the Cause Ugo Giachery
Ugo Giachery
Ugo Giachery was a prominent Italian Bahá'í from an aristocratic family from Palermo. At an anniversary of the founding of the spiritual assembly of Perugia Giachery told the story of how, as a young wounded soldier, still ignorant of the Bahá'í Faith, he was in Perugia in 1916...
. Roma Raciulyte became a Bahá'í during a trip to Finland in the 1970s and is generally considered the first Lithuanian Bahá'í in recent times.
Diverse involvements of the modern community
Since its inception the religion has had involvement in socio-economic developmentSocio-economic development (Bahá'í)
Since its inception the Bahá'í Faith has had involvement in socio-economic development beginning by giving greater freedom to women, promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern, and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and...
beginning by giving greater freedom to women, promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern, and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics. The religion entered a new phase of activity when a message of the Universal House of Justice
Universal House of Justice
The Universal House of Justice is the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith. It is a legislative institution with the authority to supplement and apply the laws of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and exercises a judicial function as the highest appellate institution in the...
dated 20 October 1983 was released. Bahá'ís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the Bahá'í teachings
Bahá'í teachings
The Bahá'í teachings represent a considerable number of theological, social, and spiritual ideas that were established in the Bahá'í Faith by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the religion, and clarified by successive leaders including `Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'u'lláh's son, and Shoghi Effendi, `Abdu'l-Bahá's...
, in which they could become involved in the social and economic development of the communities in which they lived. Worldwide in 1979 there were 129 officially recognized Bahá'í socio-economic development projects. By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482. Since the 1980s the Bahá'ís of Finland have greatly diversified their endeavours. In the late 1980s a group of Bahá'í musicians based in Naantali
Naantali
Naantali is a city in south-western Finland, known as one of the most important tourist centres of the country. The municipality has a population of , and is located in the region of Finland Proper, west of Turku....
composed an album, Pohjantähti (North Star) simultaneously in Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
and English out of a quest to be culturally creative instead of merely translating foreign interpretations of the religion into song. In 1990 Alaskan Bahá'ís visited Finland as part of a circumpolar campaign to spread the religion especially among indigenous peoples. In January 1998 Dr. Sylvia I. Karlsson lead the Finnish Bahá'í community national convention on a full day seminar on ethical dimensions of Agenda 21
Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is an action plan of the United Nations related to sustainable development and was an outcome of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992...
and sustainable development by giving the keynote talk as well as preparing parallel workshops on various chapters of Agenda 21 and summarizing the discussions. The position of the Bahá'í Faith in Finland reached national acknowledgment when in 1999 the educational authorities in Finland included courses mentioning the Bahá'í Faith in the curricula of primary and secondary schools. This relationship between national and civic events continued when in 2002 the Bahá'í community of Lappeenranta
Lappeenranta
Lappeenranta is a city and municipality that resides on the shore of the lake Saimaa in South-Eastern Finland, about from the Russian border. It belongs to the region of South Karelia. With approximately inhabitants Lappeenranta is the largest city in Finland...
registered their regularly held public meeting for World Religion Day. This discussion was on the subject of world peace with participants of local Christian, civic and Muslim groups building on a decade of efforts. In 2003, Iranian Bahá'í émigré Melody Karvonen was awarded the 2003 Human Rights Worker of the Year by the Finnish League for Human Rights. The same year the government of Finland co-sponsored a resolution of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
which was passed by a vote of 73 to 49, with 50 abstentions, by the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly expressing "serious concern" over continuing violations of human rights in Iran—and mentions specifically "continuing discrimination" against Bahá'ís and other religious minorities. (see Persecution of Bahá'ís
Persecution of Bahá'ís
The persecution of Bahá'ís is the religious persecution of Bahá'ís in various countries, especially in Iran, where the Bahá'í Faith originated and the location of one of the largest Bahá'í populations in the world...
.) Most recently, in 2003, the play The Seven Valleys was premiered at the Naantali
Naantali
Naantali is a city in south-western Finland, known as one of the most important tourist centres of the country. The municipality has a population of , and is located in the region of Finland Proper, west of Turku....
Theatre and reviewed by Pentti Narvanen of the newspaper Rannikkoseudun sanomat. Based on the work of the same name by Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh , born ' , was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment of Bábism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfilment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and...
, the play has since been shown at other venues including in Lappeenranta
Lappeenranta
Lappeenranta is a city and municipality that resides on the shore of the lake Saimaa in South-Eastern Finland, about from the Russian border. It belongs to the region of South Karelia. With approximately inhabitants Lappeenranta is the largest city in Finland...
. Aram Aflatuni is a Bahá'í TV talk show host of Härkää Sarvista, or "Grab the Bull by the Horns", which aired in Finland in 2007 with a 20 percent of the TV audience for its time period with a format that emphasizes using a panel of experts and cooperative discussions to try to solve it. Hartmut Grossmann was born in Germany, was a lecturer and head of the German Department of the Translators' Training Institute at University of Joensuu in Savonlinna
Savonlinna
Savonlinna is a town and a municipality of inhabitants in the southeast of Finland, in the heart of the Saimaa lake region. The Finnish name of the town means "Castle of Savonia" and the Swedish name means "Newcastle".- History :...
. He has served on the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá'ís of Germany and of Finland and then ultimately on the Universal House of Justice
Universal House of Justice
The Universal House of Justice is the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith. It is a legislative institution with the authority to supplement and apply the laws of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and exercises a judicial function as the highest appellate institution in the...
. After retiring in 2008, he and his wife, Ursula, moved back to Finland.
Demographics
While no statistics on the numbers of Baha'is have been released, the Finland Census reports about 0.9 - 1.2% of the population as religious but non-Christian. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of FinlandEvangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is the national church of Finland. The church professes the Lutheran branch of Christianity, and is a member of the Porvoo Communion....
estimates the 2004 population of Bahá'ís to be approximately 500. Operation World
Operation World
Operation World is a reference book and prayer guide, begun by Patrick Johnstone and continued by Jason Mandryk, both from WEC International. Operation World is published by , and produced by...
, another Christian organization, estimated 0.01%, also about 500 Bahá'ís, in 2003. In 2005 there was an estimate of 1668 according to the Association of Religion Data Archives
Association of religion data archives
The Association of Religion Data Archives is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. Founded as the American Religion Data Archive in 1997, and online since 1998, the archive was initially targeted at researchers interested in American religion...
(relying on World Christian Encyclopedia
World Christian Encyclopedia
World Christian Encyclopedia is a reference work published by Oxford University Press, known for providing membership statistics for major and minor world religions in every country of the world, including historical data and projections of future populations.The first edition, by David B. Barrett,...
).
See also
- Religion in FinlandReligion in FinlandMost people in Finland are at least nominally members of a Christian church, but since the 1980s, there has been a rapid increase in the number of people without religious affiliation. Prior to Christianisation, Finnish paganism was the primary religion....
- History of FinlandHistory of FinlandThe land area that now makes up Finland was settled immediately after the Ice Age, beginning from around 8500 BCE. Most of the region was part of the Kingdom of Sweden from the 13th century to 1809, when it was ceded to the Russian Empire, becoming the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. The...
- Bahá'í Faith in DenmarkBahá'í Faith in DenmarkThe Bahá'í Faith in Denmark began in 1925, but it was more than 20 years before the Bahá'í community in Denmark began to grow after the arrival of American Bahá'í pioneers in 1946. Following that period of growth, the community established its Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly in 1962...
- Bahá'í Faith in NorwayBahá'í Faith in NorwayThe Bahá'í Faith in Norway began with contact between traveling Scandinavians with early Persian believers of the Bahá'í Faith in the mid-to-late 19th century...
- Bahá'í Faith in SwedenBahá'í Faith in SwedenThe Bahá'í Faith in Sweden began after coverage in the 19th century followed by several Swede-Americans who had met 'Abdu'l-Bahá in the United States around 1912 and pioneered or visited the country starting in 1920. By 1932 translations of Bahá'í literature had been accomplished and around 1947...