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Artikkeli tarkastelee Suomen ortodoksisen ja Suomen evankelis-luterilaisen kirkon toimintaan osallistuneiden (N=555) kokemuksia hengellisestä yhteydestä ja muutoksista omassa hengellisyydessä koronaepidemian ensimmäisen aallon aikana. Hengellisen yhteyden käsite pitää sisällään seurakunta-, ehtoollis- ja rukousyhteyden. Tutkimusaineistomme koostuu kahdesta kyselylomakeaineistosta: ortodoksisen kirkon striimattuihin jumalanpalveluksiin osallistuneiden tuottamasta aineistosta (N=330) ja evankelis-luterilaisen kirkon toimintaan pandemian aikaan osallistuneiden tuottamasta aineistosta (N=225). Uskonnollisten yhteisöjen merkitys yhteiskunnallisissa kriiseissä vahvistuu, ja ihmiset hakeutuvat kirkon toimintojen piiriin. Kyselyyn vastanneiden kokemus hengellisestä yhteydestä etäyhteyksien aikana oli varsin jakaantunutta: osa koki hengellisen yhteyden vahvistuvan esimerkiksi uudenlaisten yhteyksien syntymisen myötä ja oman autonomian lisääntyessä suhteessa kirkon tilaisuuksiin osallistumiseen. Osa koki lähinnä verkkoyhteyksien kautta tapahtuvan toiminnan vieraannuttavan heitä ja seurakuntayhteyden jopa katkeavan. Hengellisyyden muuttuminen näkyy etenkin koronapandemian heijastumisena rukousaiheisiin sekä rukouselämän ja uskon syventymiseen. Ortodoksiaineistossa korostui tämän lisäksi pyhien läsnäolon voimakkaampi kokeminen.

Background The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) has developed the Spiritual Well-being Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-SWB32), a measure of spiritual well-being validated with people receiving palliative care for cancer, although its usefulness is not restricted to that population. We aimed to translate and validate this tool in Finnish and to study the relationship between spiritual well-being (SWB) and quality of life (QOL). Methods A Finnish translation was produced according to the guidelines of EORTC and included forward- and back-translations. Face, content, construct and convergence/divergence validity and reliability were studied in a prospective manner. QOL was assessed with EORTC QLQ-C30 and 15D questionnaires. Sixteen individuals participated in the pilot testing. 101 cancer patients drawn from oncology units, and 89 patients with other chronic diseases drawn from religious communities in different parts of the country participated in the validation stage. Retest was obtained from 16 individuals (8 cancer and 8 non-cancer patients). Inclusion criteria included patients with either a well-defined palliative care plan, or who would benefit from palliative care, as well as the capacity to understand and communicate in Finnish. Results The translation appeared understandable and acceptable. Factorial analysis identified four scoring scales with high Cronbach alfa values: Relationship with Self (0.73), Relationship with Others (0.84), Relationship with Something Greater (0.82), Existential (0.81), and, additionally, a scale on Relationship with God (0.85). There was a significant correlation between SWB and QOL in all participants. Conclusions The Finnish translation of EORTC QLQ-SWB32 is a valid and reliable measure both for research and clinical practice. SWB is correlated with QOL in cancer and non-cancer patients undergoing palliative care or who are eligible for it.

This article addresses eucharistic and communal transformations of two local Finnish churches, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) and the Orthodox Church of Finland (OCF), amid the COVID-19 pandemic and precautions. We analyze how eucharistic practices have transformed in the ELCF and the OCF and the ways these transformations are reflected in the experiences of both parishioners and pastors. The data consist of four questionnaires (N = 739) collected from Lutheran and Orthodox believers and Lutheran vicars during the pandemic. Our results indicate that the significance of belonging was emphasized during the time of social distancing. While among those in the ELCF, experiences of belonging were manifested in terms of Eucharist, among those in the OCF, belonging was most often reflected in relation to liturgical community. The differences in eucharistic theologies of the OCF and the ELCF have perhaps become more visible in exceptional circumstances.

Teoksen lähtökohta on tehdä luotauksia Bysantin kirjallisuuteen, ja sitä kautta esitellä erityisesti, mitä suomalaisessa bysanttilaisen kirjallisuuden tutkimuksen maailmassa nykyisin tapahtuu sekä millaisista näkökulmista ja millaisin metodein, bysanttilaiskauden aineistoja lähestytään.

The focus of this article is on parents’ experiences with and perceptions of their children’s religious education (RE). The data consist of letters from 41 parents of Finnish Orthodox children and youth. In the letters, the parents describe their understanding of minority religious upbringing and how it is affected by different factors like RE. RE is a mandatory subject in Finnish schools, and it is taught in groups consisting of children with the same religious backgrounds. The main questions in this article are (1) how do the parents view the arrangements for Orthodox RE to make their children’s minority religious affiliation visible at school, and (2) what is the effect of RE on the formation of their children’s minority identity? The analyses show that parents perceive RE as an important factor in their children’s identity formation. Despite the sometimes inadequate arrangements for Orthodox RE in school, the parents are mostly happy with the subject and with their children’s RE teachers. RE makes the minority religious affiliation of Orthodox children both visible and invisible: their difference from the majority is exposed, but minority RE classes often take place outside of regular school hours and even outside of school premises., published version, peerReviewed

In this article, the phenomenon of inter-confessional marriages and families is studied in the context of Finnish Orthodoxy. The focus is on the wedding services, religious upbringings and participation in Church life from the perspective of inter-confessional marriages/families: How does the ecumenical reality influence them? Sociologically, the family has a central role in relation to beliefs, religious practices and activities. The religious upbringing of most Orthodox children takes place in a family of two Christian traditions. In the lived reality of the Finnish Orthodox population, the co-existence of two traditions (Orthodox and non-Orthodox) in inter-confessional marriages is not always non-problematic. In dialogue with the Lutheran Church, the Orthodox Church of Finland has aimed to promote harmony and mutual respect for the two traditions in inter-confessional families, as well as to fortify the Orthodox identity of its members.

This article studies the debate on same-sex marriage in the early 21st century, within the two national churches of Finland, the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Orthodox Church. Legislation facilitating the so-called “gender-neutral marriage” came into effect in Finland in March 2017. In their official teachings, both churches emphasize marriage as a union between a man and a woman. An awareness of the rights of sexual minorities has, however, increased in both churches, and has given rise to the debate on how same-sex marriage should be perceived. While holding on to the traditional view of marriage, both churches have sought ways to recognize and affirm the position of sexual minorities. This has caused tension within the churches. As the majority church, the Lutheran church in particular faces strong pressure to accept same-sex weddings in the church. For the advocates of sexual minorities within the Orthodox Church, recognition of sexual minorities seems to be the main objective, rather than promoting same-sex weddings.

This chapter studies a Finnish lay monastic community based on material gathered through participant observation and interviews. The community is led by a charismatic nun and frequented mostly by women who have converted to Orthodoxy from Lutheranism. The analysis shows that the community’s activities are geared to support and facilitate the gradual mastering of an Orthodox lifestyle. According to the authors, the position of the community on the borders of the parish and other church institutions helps to constitute it as an egalitarian and “safe” space where conventional gender roles can be broadened and reinterpreted.

Tässä artikkelissa tutkitaan suomalaisten ortodoksisen uskonnon opettajien kokemuksia opettajantyöstä 1950-luvun puolivälistä 2000-luvun alkuun. Artikkelissa selvitetään yhtäältä millaisia uskonnonopetuksen järjestelyt ovat olleet. Toiseksi tarkastellaan opettajien käsityksiä roolistaan oppilaan uskonnollisen identiteetin tukijana. Lähdeaineisto muodostuu 15 eläkkeellä olevan aineenopettajan yksilöhaastattelusta, jotka on kerätty vuosina 2004–2005. Lähiluvun keinoin lähdeaineistoa ryhmitellen ja analysoiden artikkeli tarjoaa kuvan ortodoksisen uskonnonopetuksen ilmiöstä sitä opettaneiden kokemuksissa. Artikkelissa liitytään muistitietotutkimuksen ymmärtävään suuntaukseen eli menneisyydelle annettujen merkitysten tekemiseen kuulluksi ja ymmärrettäväksi. Tutkimustulokset voidaan kiteyttää neljään havaintoon: Ensinnäkin haastavat opetusjärjestelyt, oppiaineeseen asennoitumisesta syntyneet jännitteet ja vähemmistö-enemmistö -asetelmaan liittyvä rajankäynti kouluyhteisössä ovat piirteitä, jotka yhdistävät eri aikoina toimineiden ortodoksisen uskonnon opettajien työnkuvaa. Toiseksi, opettajien kertomuksista piirtyy kuva ortodoksisesta uskonnonopetuksesta marginaaliin sijoittuneena oppiaineena, jonka paikkaa ja oikeutusta opettajat joutuivat puolustamaan. Kolmanneksi, opettajien kokemukset koulusta työyhteisönä olivat pääasiallisesti myönteisiä, vaikka haastatteluissa tuotiin esille runsaasti epäkohtia. Neljänneksi, opettajat katsoivat tukeneensa oppilaan identiteettiä parhaiten olemalla aidosti omia persooniaan ja tarjoamalla siten oppilaille esimerkin ortodoksina olemisesta., This article examines the experiences of Finnish teachers of Orthodox religious education on their work from the mid-1950s to the early 2000s. This article focuses, firstly, on arrangements of the subject and, secondly, how teachers have seen their role as a supporter of the pupil's religious identity. The source material consists of 15 individual interviews with retired teachers of religious education, collected during 2004-2005. By analysing and grouping the sources through close reading, this article gives an illustration of Orthodox religious education as experienced by those who have taught it. This article relates to oral history research with the aim to make meanings given to the past heard and understood. The results of the research can be summed up into four main observations: Firstly, difficult teaching arrangements, tensions arising from the attitudes towards the subject, and the minority-majority dynamics are features that are common to the work of teachers of Orthodox religious education across different times. Secondly, the teachers' stories depict Orthodox religious education as a marginal subject, the place and justification of which teachers had to defend. Thirdly, the teachers' experiences of the school as a work community were largely positive, although the interviews revealed a lot of disadvantages. Fourthly, teachers felt that they best supported a student's identity by being their genuine selves and thus providing students with an example of being an Orthodox.