AMONG the ecumenical guests welcomed at the General Synod last
Friday was the Archbishop of Turku & Finland, the Rt
Revd Kari Mäkinen, who was invited to address the Synod from the
platform.
The Archbishop described some of the "common questions", arising
from "great social and cultural change", faced by Churches in the
Porvoo Communion. Recognition of this commonality could lead to
"deeper unity", even if Churches reached different conclusions.
In Finland, the "privatisation of religion" was under way, seen
in a "growing tendency to regard religion and the Church primarily
as something belonging to the private sphere of life", he said. The
public sphere had become "ever more dominated by the economy and
market values", and even the Church was regarded as a "provider",
and its members as "customers". This was a trend for the Church to
resist.
The Archbishop noted that issues that had been "silenced,
hidden, or otherwise difficult to face", such as homosexuality,
gender equality, or child abuse, had been given voice in Finland,
revealing "inevitable diversity" in the Church - a "hard
process".
From the perspective of the Porvoo Communion, the Archbishop
expressed a hope that the unity of the Churches might "deepen", so
that a "mutually accepted episcopate" might cover "the whole of
bishops" in the "not too distant future", and member Churches would
be able to send bishops to each other to conduct the laying on of
hands. The unique context of the Church of England was, however, to
be respected.