Kari Mäkinen

The Most Reverend Kari Mäkinen
Archbishop of Turku and Finland
Kari Mäkinen in 2013.
Archdiocese	Turku
Installed	6 June 2010
Predecessor	Jukka Paarma
Personal details
Born	(1955-01-05) 5 January 1955 (age 62) Pori, Finland
Nationality	Finnish
Denomination	Lutheran
Spouse	Eija Mäkinen

Kari Mäkinen (born 5 January 1955 in Pori, Finland) is the archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. On 11 March 2010 he was elected the 14th Archbishop of Turku and Finland, and he was installed on 6 June 2010. His predecessor was Jukka Paarma. Previously Mäkinen served as vicar of Ulvila and since 2006 as Bishop of Turku.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Theology in 1979, now equivalent to a master's degree, and received his licentiate in 1987. After defending his thesis in 1989 he became a Doctor of Theology. He worked in the parishes of Roihuvuori and Lauttasaari, Helsinki from 1979 to 1984. He then worked in the parishes of Länsi-Pori and Ulvila from 1989 to 1993. Between 1984 and 1989, he also worked as a full-time researcher. His election to the vicariate of Ulvila occurred in 1994, and he held the position until 2005. During his years as vicar of Ulvila he simultaneously worked as an assistant in the Archdiocese of Turku. He has also had several positions of trust in multiple organisations. On the second ballot of 2010, he was voted to be the next Archbishop of Turku and Finland against Miikka Ruokanen. On 26 March 2013, he was the first Archbishop to voice public support for (civil) same-sex marriage. Since then, however, he has changed his position.

On 28 October 2014, when the Finnish Parliament narrowly approved a citizen's initiative to legalize same-sex marriages, Archbishop Kari posted on his Facebook page with the following: "I know how much this day means to the rainbow community, their loved ones and many others. I rejoice with my whole heart for them and with them".

In March 2016, Mäkinen promised that the church would protect refugees whose request for asylum was rejected by the Finnish immigration officials. Approximately one thousand Finns resigned their church membership in the days following his statement.