Church of the Prophet Elijah, Helsinki

openas of 2026-10-012024World · Ukrainian tracesFinland

Photo: Stannu10 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

A church in Helsinki's Orthodox cemetery where the liturgy is served in Ukrainian every Sunday.

The church of the Holy Prophet Elijah stands in Helsinki's Orthodox cemetery. Since 18 February 2024 the Helsinki Orthodox parish of the Orthodox Church of Finland has served a liturgy here every Sunday at 10:00 in Ukrainian and Finnish — the first permanent place of regular Ukrainian prayer in the Finnish capital. The parish's Ukrainian community grew sharply after russia's full-scale invasion: by the parish's own account, more than 50 new parishioners joined within a few weeks, and the parish began running its pages in Ukrainian as well. Nearby, in Hietaniemi cemetery, the Ukrainian community commemorates the victims of the Holodomor every year.