Finland’s Catholic Bishop Asks Worldwide Help to Fund New Churches

The Bishop of Helsinki, Archbishop Raimo Goyarrola, has launched an international fundraising campaign to build and acquire new churches in Finland. The Catholic community there is growing, but the number of places of worship and the diocese’s economic resources have not kept pace.

Goyarrola, who was born in Bilbao, said the small Finnish Catholic Church does not have sufficient means to meet the pastoral needs of its faithful on its own. He has asked Catholics in other countries to help.

The Diocese of Helsinki covers the entire territory of Finland, a country of approximately 340,000 square kilometres, with just eight Catholic parishes. Many of the faithful must travel great distances to take part in Holy Mass and receive the sacraments. The growth of the community has increased the need for new places of worship, but the diocese’s economic limits make it difficult to acquire property and build churches. The bishop has therefore turned to the solidarity of the wider Church.

In the message released to present the campaign, Goyarrola wrote that the Catholic Church in Finland is growing but remains a small community with limited resources. He acknowledged that local funding options have been exhausted and that the diocese needs outside help. In statements collected by El Debate, he said the Catholic Church is a family spread throughout the world and that this communion must also be expressed in concrete help (John 17:21 shows that the unity of believers is meant to be visible to the world). He stressed that all contributions, regardless of size, can help improve pastoral care for Finnish Catholics.

The Catholic Church in Finland has set up an official donation page aimed especially at faithful who wish to contribute from other countries. The diocese accepts contributions through several different procedures and provides information about projects that need funding. Among the projects presented are new spaces for Catholic communities, a diocesan training centre, the development of a Catholic school, and other initiatives intended to strengthen the Church’s presence in the country.

Goyarrola was born in Bilbao on July 20, 1969. He studied Medicine and Surgery at the University of Navarra and later earned a doctorate in Dogmatic Theology from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. A member of Opus Dei, he was ordained a priest in 2002, developed much of his ministry in Finland, and was later appointed bishop of Helsinki. He serves in a society with a majority Lutheran tradition, where Catholics are a minority.

The international campaign seeks to provide the community with the spaces it needs to continue growing and to make it easier for the faithful to access sacramental life.

Source: Read the original report (translated from Spanish)