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Finland

From Bahaipedia
 Finland
First National Convention of Finland, April of 1962
Location of Finland
National AssemblyFinland
Statistics:
Total Population
 -  UN 2021[1] 5,535,992
Bahá'í pop.
 -  Bahá'í source  
 -  Non-Bahá'í source 1,701
History:
Firsts
 -  Bahá'í to visit 1927, Martha Root 
 -  Local Bahá'í 1938, Vaino Rissanen 
 -  Pioneers 1938, Josephine Kruka 
 -  Local Assembly 1953, Helsinki 
 -  National Assembly 1962 
Official Website http://www.bahai.fi/
Related media
Categories: Finland • People

The Republic of Finland is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. Finnish and Swedish are the official language and Christianity is the predominant religion.

The region was controlled by the Kingdom of Sweden in the 13th century and in 1809 it was incorporated as an independent state of the Russian Empire. In 1917 it became an independent nation.

The Bahá’í Faith was introduced to Finland in the 1920s and 1930s and a community was established in the early 1950s. The community remains active in community-building efforts to the present day.

History[edit]

The earliest Bahá’í activity in Finland came when Martha Root visited in 1927.[2] Josephine Kruka moved to the country in July, 1938, at the request of Shoghi Effendi remaining until December, 1938, and during her time in the country Vaino Rissanen became the first Finnish Bahá’í through her.[3] She returned to Finland in 1939, and Lorol Schopflocher also visited the country that year,[4] however Kruka was forced to depart after a short time due to the Second World War.[5]

Elsa Vento, a Finnish born Canadian Bahá’í, pioneered to Finland in 1950,[6] and as of 1951 she had established a Bahá’í study group in Helsinki which also maintained a correspondence with Josephine Kruka.[7][8] By 1952 there were eleven Bahá’ís in Finland,[9] and the Local Spiritual Assembly of Helsinki was established in 1953.[10] Dorothy Baker visited Finland in 1953 while traveling to the Intercontinental Conference in Sweden.[11] In 1955 a Bahá’í Conference and Summer School was held in Helsinki gathering Bahá’ís from across Scandinavia,[12][13] and the same year a National Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds for Finland was purchased in Helsinki.[14]

In 1957 the National Spiritual Assembly of Scandinavia and Finland was established which assumed responsibility for administrating the Bahá’í community of Finland.[15] In 1959 Adelbert Mühlschlegel conducted a travel teaching trip across Finland visiting several towns to proclaim the Faith including Tampere,[16] and in 1960 a Local Spiritual Assembly was established in Tampere.[17] An Area Teaching Committee of Finland had been established by 1960 and that year it oversaw efforts to open the city of Turku to the Faith.[18] In 1962 the independent National Spiritual Assembly of Finland was established,[19] and the newly formed body organized a Bahá’í Summer School of Finland later that year.[20]

As of 1963 Finland had four Local Spiritual Assemblies in Helsinki, Tempere, Turku, and Lahti, and a Bahá’í Group in Karesunanto,[21] and that year the National Spiritual Assembly was officially recognized by the government of Finland.[22] The first legally recognized Bahá’í wedding officiated by the Faith to be held in Europe took place in Finland in 1966.[23] The Bahá’í youth of Finland became more active in the community in the period between 1968 and 1973 and during the same time period the community doubled in size with several Assemblies being established.[24]

In the 1970's the Finnish Bahá’í community aimed to expand to establish a presence all across Finland geographically with Bahá’í groups being established in northern Finland, western Finland, and Lappland in 1974 and that year Dorothy Ferraby made a travel teaching trip across Finland.[25] A wide range of proclamation activity was undertaken in 1975, including the National Youth Committee of Finland organizing presentations on the Faith in schools across the country, and a teaching conference directed by Counsellor Betty Reed was held in October that year to encourage Finnish Bahá’ís to become active in teaching the Faith.[26] In 1976 a Finnish language Bahá’í magazine was established and as of that year several Bahá’í writings had been translated into the language.[27] In July 1976 a major Intercontinental Conference was held in Helsinki and the Universal House of Justice wrote a message to the attendees of the event.[28][29]

In the early 1980's the Bahá’í community of Finland collaborated with the Bahá’í community of Sweden to establish the Faith in the Aland Islands, and with the Bahá’í communities of Norway and Sweden to establish the Faith in Lapland.[30] In 1985 a Local Spiritual Assembly was established in Rovaniemi in Finland which was the first in Lapland, home of the Sami people.[31] In 1986 and 1987 Native American Bahá’ís from the United States visited Finland to travel teach in Sami communities,[32] and a Local Spiritual Assembly of Inari was established in 1990 and two Sami Bahá’ís were elected to the body.[33] In 1996 a Bahá’í center was inaugurated in Inari and two members of the Sami Parliament and a member of the Inari municipality government attended the event and as of that year a Regional Bahá’í Council of Lapland had been established to represent Sami Bahá’ís.[34]

As of the early 2000's the institute process had been established in Finland and invigorated the arts in the Finnish Bahá’í community, with a play inspired by the Seven Valleys being written and performed in 2004.[35] Finnish Bahá’í Aram Aflatuni had established a television talk show in Finland as of 2007 which incorporated the Bahá’í principle of consultation into its production.[36]

In 2013 a major international Bahá’í Youth Conference was held in Helsinki at which youth consulted on the contributions they could make to their communities.[37] In 2022 a national conference and smaller neighborhood conferences were held in Finland as part of the Global Conferences initiative of the global Bahá’í community.[38][39]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ "World Population Prospects 2022". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  2. ↑ M. R. Garis, Martha Root: Lioness at the Threshold, Baha'i Publishing Trust: Illinois, 1983, p 276
  3. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1981). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 17 (1976-1979), Pg(s) 129. View as PDF.
  4. ↑ Baha'i News (1939). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 128, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  5. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 495. View as PDF.
  6. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1970). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 13 (1954-1963), Pg(s) 900. View as PDF.
  7. ↑ Baha'i News (1951). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 241, Pg(s) 14. View as PDF.
  8. ↑ Baha'i News (1951). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 246, Pg(s) 11. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ Baha'i News (1952). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 261, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20080517111900/http://bci.org/bahaistudies/courses/light/time-line-bahai.htm
  11. ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 277, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  12. ↑ Baha'i News (1955). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 297, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ Baha'i News (1955). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 296, Pg(s) 9. View as PDF.
  14. ↑ Baha'i News (1956). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 299, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
  15. ↑ Baha'i News (1957). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 316, Pg(s) 12. View as PDF.
  16. ↑ Baha'i News (1959). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 343, Pg(s) 11. View as PDF.
  17. ↑ Baha'i News (1960). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 353, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  18. ↑ Baha'i News (1960). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 357, Pg(s) 13. View as PDF.
  19. ↑ Baha'i News (1962). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 377, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  20. ↑ Baha'i News (1962). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 379, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  21. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1970). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 13 (1954-1963), Pg(s) 996. View as PDF.
  22. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1974). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 14 (1963-1968), Pg(s) 87. View as PDF.
  23. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1974). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 14 (1963-1968), Pg(s) 154. View as PDF.
  24. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 279. View as PDF.
  25. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1978). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 16 (1973-1976), Pg(s) 293. View as PDF.
  26. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1978). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 16 (1973-1976), Pg(s) 294. View as PDF.
  27. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1978). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 16 (1973-1976), Pg(s) 295. View as PDF.
  28. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1978). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 16 (1973-1976), Pg(s) 108. View as PDF.
  29. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1981). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 17 (1976-1979), Pg(s) 129. View as PDF.
  30. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1986). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 18 (1979-1983), Pg(s) 190. View as PDF.
  31. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 171. View as PDF.
  32. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 359. View as PDF.
  33. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 359. View as PDF.
  34. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 25 (1996-1997), Pg(s) 63. View as PDF.
  35. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2006). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 33 (2004-2005), Pg(s) 241. View as PDF.
  36. ↑ https://news.bahai.org/story/593/
  37. ↑ https://news.bahai.org/community-news/youth-conferences/helsinki.html
  38. ↑ https://news.bahai.org/story/1587/slideshow/23/
  39. ↑ https://news.bahai.org/story/1601/slideshow/91/
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