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Marriage equality celebrated in Finland, national church deeply divided

HELSINKI, March 3 (PNA/Xinhua) -- As the new Marriage Act accepting same sex marriages in Finland became law on Wednesday, supporters of equality have celebrated it throughout Finland, but the national Evangelic Lutheran Church is facing increasing internal polarization.

A new Helsinki high-rise hotel decided to feature rainbow colors on its front wall this week. Rainbow colored flags were hoisted by the Helsinki Music Center.

Former Finnish president Tarja Halonen sent congratulations to the couples tying the knot on Wednesday.

"Congratulations, at last," she wrote. Halonen had been the chairman of the Finnish sexual equality pressure group Seta in the early 1980s.

Embassies of some of the 23 countries who have already acknowledged same sex marriage published social media congratulations to Finland. They included among others Sweden and Britain.

Finland is the last of the Nordic countries to allow same sex marriage.

On the other hand, resignations from church membership have increased in recent days. Church is losing both conservative members thinking the church is too liberal and liberal members not accepting its negative stand on same sex marriage, according to national broadcaster Yle.

Membership in the national church has declined in last twenty years from over 90 percent to above 70 percent. The marriage issue has triggered mass resignation waves during the past ten years.

If no common ground is found in the church between conservatives and liberals, one alternative being debated is that the church would give up the legal right to enact marriages and thus avoid tackling the issue.

Dozens of priests have announced their willingness to carry out ceremonies for same sex couples, but bishops have indicated the practice would lead to punishments.

Finnish Parliament passed the Marriage Act in late 2014 on the basis of a civic initiative. The then government had not been willing to submit a bill as not all coalition parties accepted the idea. Only two weeks ago, a counter civic initiative to cancel the reform was defeated in the parliament.

Homosexual acts were decriminalized in Finland in 1971. A civil partnership system was enacted in 2002. (PNA/Xinhua)
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