Blog Archives

St Joseph's Church to be consecrated in May

16/12/2013

The newly acquired church building in Kuopio will be consecrated a Catholic church on Saturday, May 3rd, 2014 at 1 p.m., Catholic Information Service reports. Mass has already been celebrated at the church in Männistö in Kuopio, but now the date for the consecration of the building. It was already known that the new church would be dedicated to Saint Joseph.

Saint Joseph's Church will be a chapel and part of Saint Olav's in Jyväskylä.

Silent choir of "monks" bring joy with Hallelujah

11/12/2013

Trappists (or Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiæ, which is abbreviated OCSO, if you want to be precise) are the "silent monks". In this choir performance at a US school - which has been seen and appreciated by millions of viewers on YouTube - this aspect of their calling is marked in an excellent way.

The "monks" of this film clip, however, are dressed in brown habits with hoods, which suggests they might instead be Capuchin Friars (Ordo Fratrum Minorum Capuccinorum or OFMCap). Trappist monks traditionally wear grey habits.

Legend of Saint Henry

9/12/2013

The latest post on our Ithaca in Your Mind blog focuses on the feedback we have received through this Katolinen.net site's Survey page. There have, among other things, been requests of information about saints with connection to Finland's history. No sooner had that wish been published than Emil Anton responds on his blog Hyviä uutisia with a post about the Legend of Saint Henry. We recommend his blog to any and all who read Finnish.

Image: Kirsti Ellilä

Wave of Prayer for Food for All

5/12/2013

Caritas Finland takes part in the One human family, food for all campaign beginning on December 10. The global campaign wants to get people thinking about the fact that we are all brothers and sisters and that too many of us go hungry. Through the campaign Caritas Internationalis aims to change attitudes in the world to put an end to hunger before 2025.

Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, president of Caritas Internationalis, says: "There is enough food to feed the planet. We believe that with your help and the help of governments and the U.N. we can end hunger by 2025."

Pope Francis supports the campaign. He has said:
"It is a well-known fact that current levels of production are sufficient, yet millions of people are still suffering and dying of starvation. This is truly scandalous."

Pope Francis is also involved in the Wave of Prayer that begins the campaign at noon on December 10. The global wave begins in Samoa in the Pacific and reaches Finland 12 hours later.

Wave of Prayer from noon on Dec 10

caritas.fi/food-for-all

Take part in the Wave of Prayer! You'll find the campaign prayer in English here and more information about the campaign at caritas.fi/food-for-all or on the international campaign site food.caritas.org.

Catholicism in Finland presented on December 8

4/12/2013

The Welcoming Team welcomes people into the Church and the topic of the final meeting this year is the Catholic Church in Finland.

Accordingly, at 1 p.m. on Sunday, December 8, Jan-Peter Paul will give a presentation in English on Finnish Catholicism at the Studium Catholicum.

Bishop's Christmas Message for Exhibition of Cribs

3/12/2013

Nobody can harden their heart to a helpless and hungry new-born child in need of love and care. We respond to any such small yet perfect creature, knowing instinctively that it needs to be held, nourished and protected. Like the birth of any human child, it is easy to see how the Feast of Christmas opens up to us in an instant with the birth of Jesus.

And yet a tension of opposites comes with the birth of that particular baby: The Gospels tell us that, like us, Jesus is human. But he is also the Son of God. Present in this helpless child is Almighty God, Creator of Heaven and Earth. The great majesty of God made manifest in a small human being. From the moment God becomes Man, the Old Testament ban against portraying God is overturned. In Jesus, God makes himself visible, he becomes flesh.

Art and Tradition of the Crib in Italy
Helsinki: December 9th 2013 - January 6th 2014
Turku: December 13th 2013 - January 6th 2014

The cover of the Italian edition of the exhibition catalogue.

Jesus and his birth in Bethlehem have been portrayed innumerably often in new and various ways. A nativity scene or crib consists of statues not only of the baby Jesus but also of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, shepherds and their sheep, angels, the wise men, an ox and an ass. In fact, many Italian cribs depict the entire town of Bethlehem, its houses, people, animals and all. Jesus is born among the people.