The Orthodox Church of Finland

The Uspenski cathedral belongs to the Orthodox Church of Finland which is a local autonomous church under the Ecumenical patriarchate of Constantinople. The church was originally part of the Russian Orthodox church, but shortly after Finland gained its independence from Russia, the Finnish orthodox church declared autonomy from the Russian orthodox church, completely separating from it in 1923.

Around 1-2% (60 000) of the Finnish population belongs to the congregation and the church has the legal status as a national church in Finland, granting it the right to collect church tax from the parish members. The other national church in Finland is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, to which about 60% of the population belong to.

The Orthodox Parish of Helsinki was founded in 1827 which coincided by the consecration of the Holy Trinity church which is situated next to the Helsinki cathedral. The Orthodox Parish of Helsinki is the largest of the orthodox parishes in Finland, with around 22 000 members. It’s part of the Diocese of Helsinki which has 8 parishes in total, covering Southern Finland. The Uspenski cathedral is the main church of the Diocese of Helsinki.