This Friday 19th May, our member in Finland, Kirkkopalvelut (Church Services Association), is organizing a peace walk in the Finnish city of Turku. The walk is being put together as a collaboration between the Turku city council and parish, as well as the Turku Orthodox Church, the Islamic Community, the Jewish Congregation, the Finnish Buddhist Union, among other diverse religious communities in Turku.
Kirkkopalvelut is a federation of Christian congregations and service providers operating across Finland working to build a just society, a prosperous and innovative Church, and to educate and help those in need.
The peace walk is part of the ‘Church Day’ celebrations being held in the Finnish city of Turku this weekend between the 19th and 21st May, organized by the city parish. The aim of this particular event is to make a stand against violence, confrontation and hate speech done in the name of religious intolerance or discrimination, and to demonstrate that different religious communities can live in harmony and build a safe and better community in Turku, Finland, and Europe.
Among those joining the walk will be the Bishop of Turku Kaarlo Kalliala, European religious leaders, representatives of various religious communities, leaders of social organisations, as well as representatives of the City Council. The walk will end in Logomo Cathedral Square with speeches from Archbishop Kari Mäkinen, former President of Finland Tarja Halonen, President of the Turku City Council Seppo Lehtinen, President of the European Council of Religious Leaders Jehangir Sarosh and Anas Hajjar of the Finnish Islamic Association. Kirkkopalvelut are encouraging anyone interested in taking part to join the peace walk on Friday, starting at 17.30.
You can learn more about the interfaith peace walk, the proposed itinerary and participants via Kirkkopalvelut’s website. For more detailed information on the different activities being held for the Church day weekend, you can look at the agenda of events between Friday 19th and Sunday 21st May.