Paavo Kontkanen and his Role in Normalization of Relations between the Russian and Finnish Orthodox Churches

Abstract

The interrelations of the Russian and Finnish Orthodox Churches in the 20th century are dramatic and poorly studied by Russian historians. This article, on the basis of materials from the State Archives of the Russian Federation and studies into church history translated from Finnish, attempts to evaluate the role of Dr. Paavo Kontkanen, an active member of the Finnish Archdiocese, in the relations between these two Churches. He exemplified a change in the attitude of the National Orthodox Church of Finland towards the Russian Church, historically kyriarchal, in the second half of the previous century. Dr. Paavo Kontkanen, being for a long time a member of the collegiate administrative body of the Finnish Archdiocese, the Church Administrative Council, with permission from Archbishop Herman (Aav) started negotiations with the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church on a private level. Having archieved understanding with the chairman of the Department of External Church Relations, Metropolitan Nicholas (Yarushevich), Kontkanen considered the possibility of reunification of the Finnish Church and the Russian Church only for a short period, before receiving the status of Autocephalous Local Church from Moscow. Kontkanen’s actions enable to regard him as a conductor of Finland’s ecclesiastical interests aimed at rapprochement with the Soviet Union. It can be proved by Kontkanen’s close contacts with the President of Finland, Urho Kaleva Kekkonen, and his ability to defend interests of the “pro-Russian” part of the clergy and the Finnish Orthodox Church in the face of the state and the Church Council.