Dear members of the diocese,

Recent economic changes, including new rules about priests’ salaries, have resulted in many questions among members of our diocese. People may particularly wonder how the Church in Finland will survive under the new circumstances. Therefore, I wish to clarify how the members of the diocese can support the Church financially. At the same time, I also want to underscore their obligation in this matter.

In the Catholic Church, every parishioner is obligated to support the Church and the parish, also financially, according to his or her ability. In the Catholic Diocese of Helsinki, starting from the beginning of year 2018, this is implemented as follows:

Every Catholic above 18 years of age has the obligation to pay 1,5% of his or her taxable income to the membership fee bank account of his or her own parish. (Obviously, one does not need to pay, at least the full amount, if under grave economic hardship). The recommended method of payment is a monthly automatic transfer to the membership fee account of the parish.

Adventtiretretti

hiljaisuuden päivä ennen Joulua

isä Robert Gallan SCJ johdolla

Pyhän Marian kirkossa

lauantaina 9.12.2017 klo 9.30

Dear members of Saint Mary’s parish,

With this letter I send heartfelt greetings and wish to share with you some current parish issues. Our parish is very international – among them there are Catholics from approximately 70 different countries. Although almost half of our parish members have a foreign background, we all celebrate joyfully the 100 year anniversary of the independence of Finland, which is our common home. We pray for 100-year-old Finland and for all of its inhabitants, that God will bless us abundantly, protect us from all dangers and give us peace and well-being. In accordance with tradition, we celebrate Finland’s Independence Day and the anniversary of the consecration day of St. Mary’s Church on the same day.