Feud over women pastors haunts Church of Finland
AFP, July, 2007
 | Content provided in partnership with |  |
HELSINKI (AFP) — Twenty-one years after the Lutheran Church of Finland allowed women to become pastors, a small but vocal group of male clergy remain vehemently opposed to their ordination, embarrassing the Church as it tries to halt declining membership.
The opponents number only a hundred or so, or just two percent of Finnish pastors, but their complaints are getting louder now that more than a third of all clergy are women.
The female pastors are expected to outnumber their male colleagues by 2015, according to the archdiocese.
The feud is a thorn in the church's side as it tries to better its conservative image amid a steady outflow of members.
- Most Popular Articles in News
- The Ten Best Laptop bags
- Tata plans cheapest-ever car for Indian market
- GLOBALIZATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT OF THE THIRD WORLD
- Corn is good for you; Corn is not only a tasty treat, but also a cereal that ...
- THE 50 BEST STYLISH HANDBAGS TO CARRY
- More »
"In 1986, we organised the work in a way so that conflicts were avoided, but now that the number of women ordained is sharply increasing, it's not possible anymore," Archbishop Jukka Paarma told AFP.
The issue ...
