Diocese of Helsinki
Helsinkien(sis)
Diocese immediately subject to the Holy See · Latin Church · Helsinki, Finland
Latin Church diocese covering the whole of Finland, erected as a diocese in 1955 from the earlier Apostolic Vicariate of Finland and immediately subject to the Holy See. Bishop Raimo Goyarrola, appointed in September 2023, has led the see since his consecration in November 2023.
The see
- Rank
- Diocese immediately subject to the Holy See
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 8 June 1920
- Latin
- Helsinkien(sis)
- Patron
- Santo Henrique
- Annuario code
- 001001590
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 17,243
- Population
- 5,637,214
- Catholic share
- 0.3%
- Priests
- 30
- Catholics per priest
- 575
- Extent
- 338,424 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 0.1
of the people living within its bounds
Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.
The bishop
- Bishop
- Raimo Ramón Goyarrola Belda
- Born
- 20 July 1969
- Birthplace
- Bilbao
A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.
The cathedral
St. Henry's Cathedral stands in Helsinki, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
History
All of Finland falls within a single Latin Church diocese, the Diocese of Helsinki (Latin: Dioecesis Helsinkiensis), based in Helsinki and divided into eight parishes. As of 2018 the country counted 15,000 registered and 10,000 unregistered Catholics, with more than 6,000 Catholic families, half of them Finnish and half of international origin. In September 2023 Pope Francis chose Bishop Raimo Goyarrola of Spain to lead the diocese, which had been vacant since May 2019, when Bishop Teemu Sippo resigned due to poor health.
What is kept by invitation
The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.
The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.
Sources
The see's own website · Wikipedia
This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].