Finland’s Supreme Court Convicts Lutheran Bishop and Lawmaker Over 2004 Pamphlet

Finnish prosecutors charged Rev. Dr. Juhana Pohjola, diocesan dean and bishop-elect of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland (ELMDF), with incitement against a group of people. According to one report, the charge concerns a 2004 booklet published by Luther Foundation Finland, which sets out historic Christian teaching on human sexuality and argues from the Bible that homosexual activity must be identified as sin. Finland’s prosecutor general also charged Dr. Päivi Räsänen, a member of the Finnish Parliament, who is described in that report as the booklet’s author. Pohjola is editor-in-chief of Luther Foundation Finland’s publications, which the report gives as the reason he was also charged.

The case began in 2019. One report says Räsänen shared a passage from Romans on social media to question another Lutheran church body’s support for a “Pride” event. The same report says the prosecutor general opened an investigation of the ELMDF that year. That report does not describe the investigation as a result of the social media post. An earlier Helsinki Police investigation had found that no laws had been broken, according to the second report, which does not give a date for that finding.

The booklet was later cleared by a Helsinki district court in 2022, according to the first report, but the Finnish government continued to challenge that ruling. The International Lutheran Council expressed concern about the investigation of Lutherans in Finland.

The first report states that the Finnish Supreme Court, in a 3–2 decision announced on March 26, ruled that Pohjola and Räsänen were guilty of inciting hatred through the 2004 pamphlet, titled *Male and Female He Created Them*. The court ordered each of them to pay fines equivalent to 20 days of wages, along with legal costs. It also fined Luther Foundation Finland, which supported the ELMDF and collaborated on the pamphlet, 5,000 euros. The court ordered the pamphlet permanently removed from public access, in print and digital formats.

The reports differ on Pohjola’s title. The first describes him as bishop of the ELMDF, while the second describes him as bishop-elect and diocesan dean. Both reports refer to the 2004 publication, but the first calls it a pamphlet and the second a booklet.

Räsänen said she intends to appeal the ruling to the European Court of Human Rights.