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VALAAM, August 18. /Correspondent of SPB-TASS Elena Yugina/.
His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia will visit Finland. He has told so Russian and Finnish journalists during visiting the island of Valaam.
On his wods, he "has received an invitation to visit this republic from the archbishop Leo of Karelia and All Finland", and now period of his visit is under consideration. In Finland there is so-called New Valaam where monks from Valaam have moved in 1940s.
Making comments on relations between Russian and Finnish orthodox churches, Alexy II has expressed satisfaction to the fact that "they develop in the spirit of mutual understanding and brotherly unity."
The Chief Priest has especially noted that nowadays "the Moscow Patriarchy nourishes the more increasing Orthodox believers in Finland as the number of citizens of Russia coming to this Scandinavian country keeps growing."
The Moscow Patriarchy has four congregations in Finland - two Helsinki, and also in Turku and in Pore. The Finnish orthodox church has 25 congregations. Now according to statistics 89 percents of citizens of Finland profess lutheranism and one percent profess Orthodoxy. The number of Russian-speaking immigrants in this Scandinavian country makes up to 60 thousand people.
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