Military Bishop

This article is about military rank in Finnish army. For worldwide Roman Catholic use, see Military ordinariate.

Military Bishop (Finnish: Kenttäpiispa; Swedish: Fältbiskop) is a military rank and position within the Finnish Defence Forces. The military bishop is the leader of the priests and the deacons serving in the army as military chaplains, both Lutheran and orthodox. The office was founded by marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim in 1941.

Though the military bishop is called a bishop and is a member of the Synod of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, he is not a bishop in the doctrinal sense of the word. Military bishops are not ordained as bishops and cannot ordain priests. Their field of duty, the Finnish Defence Forces, does not constitute a diocese, and the military chaplains belong to the dioceses where their duty stations are located. Similarly, the servicemembers belong to the parishes of their domiciles.

Military Bishops of the Finnish Defence Forces

• Johannes Björklund 1941-1956
• Toivo Laitinen 1956-1969
• Yrjö Massa 1969-1978
• Viljo Remes 1978-1986
• Jorma Laulaja 1986-1995
• Hannu Niskanen 1995-

See also

• Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
• Finnish Orthodox Church
• Finnish Defence Forces