|
|
Press Release 10/27e04.06.10 09:54  Rev. Irja Askola, Finland’s first woman Bishop On Thursday, 4 June 2010, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Finland elected its first woman bishop. Rev. Irja Askola was elected bishop of Helsinki having received 591 votes. Rev. Askola will take up her office on the 1st of September 2010, and her ordination will take place in the Helsinki Cathedral on Sunday, 12 September 2010. The retiring Bishop of Helsinki, Eero Huovinen, has served as bishop since 1991. Irja Askola currently works as the Special Assistant in Theological Affairs for Bishop Mikko Heikka. She graduated as a Master of Theology in 1975, and was ordained as a priest in 1988. Her home parish is Alppila. Rev. Askola worked for the Conference of European Churches (CEC) from 1991 to 1999. Prof. Dr Viorel Ionita stated that: “It is a great privilege for me as Acting General Secretary of CEC to congratulate our former colleague, Rev. Irja Askola, on her election as the first female bishop in the history of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and to wish her the grace of God in her new mission. During the years when we worked together for CEC I appreciated Irja Askola as a very good theologian with a deep sense of what church means and her excellent pastoral and liturgical skills. The contribution of CEC for promoting the witness of women in church and society after the political changes in Central and Eastern Europe is unthinkable without the contribution of our former colleague from Finland. The genuine ecumenical openness of Irja Askola was highly appreciated even in some traditional churches. In CEC we are confident that bishop elect Askola will bring a real new input into the life of her church not least through her large ecumenical experience in Europe and worldwide.” ***** For more information:
|
