Archbishop of Turku and Finland

Archdiocese of Turku Turun arkkihiippakunta Åbo ärkestift
Turku Cathedral
Location
Country	Finland
Ecclesiastical province	Turku & Finland
Metropolitan	Archbishop of Turku & Finland
Deaneries	9
Information
Denomination	Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
Cathedral	Turku Cathedral
Current leadership
Archbishop	Kari Mäkinen
Suffragan	Kaarlo Kalliala
Website
www.arkkihiippakunta.fi

The Archdiocese of Turku (Finnish: Turun arkkihiippakunta, Swedish: Åbo ärkestift), historically known as Archdiocese of Åbo, is the seat of the Archbishop of Turku. It is a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, and its see city is Turku. The Archbishop has many administrative tasks relating to the National church, and is the Metropolitan and Primate of the church. In common with other Lutheran and Anglican churches the Archbishop is considered primus inter pares, whilst all diocesan bishops retain their independence within their respective jurisdictions.

Influenced by papal bulls, Swedish magnates in the 12th century set up crusading expeditions to convert the heathens in the eastern Baltic. This resulted in the establishment of the Catholic Church, the Christian religion and the Swedish conquest of southern Finland in 1249. Turku, or Åbo, became the principal city in Finland and residence of a Bishopric. As a result of Protestant Reformation in the 16th century the Catholic Church had to give way for the Lutheran state church which was established by King Gustav Vasa of Sweden, whose principal reformer in Finland was Mikael Agricola and from 1554 also the Bishop.