Police investigate claims of discrimination against women clergy in Hyvinkää
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The controversy in the Finnish Evangelical-Lutheran Church over the resistance of some conservative male clergy to the ordination of women has extended to the realm of worldly law enforcement.
A police investigation has been initiated in a case in the southern town of Hyvinkää, where a substitute vicar, a curate, a parish trustee, and a pastor face possible charges of criminal discrimination at the workplace.
In the case, a woman pastor withdrew from altar duty at a church in Hyvinkää.
The case goes back to early March, when a woman pastor had been scheduled for a shift at a Sunday morning service, where she would help distribute communion.
When the pastor showed up for the service, a visiting preacher of the Lutheran Evengelical Association in Finland said tha the would e unable to take part in a service in which a woman pastor was serving.
After a brief discussion, the woman left the church.
The chair of the Hyvinkää Church Council filed a request with Hyvinkää police to investigate the case. The investigation was transferred to the neighbouring Central Uusima Police to avoid a conflict of interest, because the person who made the complaint works with the Hyvinkää police.
The police are investigating the substitute vicar at the Hyvinkää parish, as well as the curate of work discrimination. The visiting pastor and a parish trustee who helped arrange the visit is suspected of discrimination.
The suspects had either taken part in the discussion leading to the withdrawal of the woman, or had been observing it, says Pekka Heikkinen, the head of the police investigation.
Heikkinen says that the acting vicar and the curate are under investigation because of their managerial positions in the parish. The police are ascertaining the extent of their responsibility for the events.
The curate, serving as a liturgist in the service, is also seen by the police to have been in a supervisory position with respect to the clergywoman, as the liturgist's role is to lead the service.
As the woman pastor was not a subordinate of visiting preacher and the parish trustee, the two face charges of ordinary discrimination, and not work-related discrimination. The police are investigating what the two may have said in the situation.
Heikkinen says that those who have been questioned so far in the case, deny that they had committed any crime.
About ten people are to be questioned in the investigation. The number of suspects is not expected to exceed four.
The matter is expected to go to prosecutors in the summer. Discrimination or labour discrimination are punishable by a fine, and up to six months in prison.
A police investigation has been initiated in a case in the southern town of Hyvinkää, where a substitute vicar, a curate, a parish trustee, and a pastor face possible charges of criminal discrimination at the workplace.
In the case, a woman pastor withdrew from altar duty at a church in Hyvinkää.
The case goes back to early March, when a woman pastor had been scheduled for a shift at a Sunday morning service, where she would help distribute communion.
When the pastor showed up for the service, a visiting preacher of the Lutheran Evengelical Association in Finland said tha the would e unable to take part in a service in which a woman pastor was serving.
After a brief discussion, the woman left the church.
The chair of the Hyvinkää Church Council filed a request with Hyvinkää police to investigate the case. The investigation was transferred to the neighbouring Central Uusima Police to avoid a conflict of interest, because the person who made the complaint works with the Hyvinkää police.
The police are investigating the substitute vicar at the Hyvinkää parish, as well as the curate of work discrimination. The visiting pastor and a parish trustee who helped arrange the visit is suspected of discrimination.
The suspects had either taken part in the discussion leading to the withdrawal of the woman, or had been observing it, says Pekka Heikkinen, the head of the police investigation.
Heikkinen says that the acting vicar and the curate are under investigation because of their managerial positions in the parish. The police are ascertaining the extent of their responsibility for the events.
The curate, serving as a liturgist in the service, is also seen by the police to have been in a supervisory position with respect to the clergywoman, as the liturgist's role is to lead the service.
As the woman pastor was not a subordinate of visiting preacher and the parish trustee, the two face charges of ordinary discrimination, and not work-related discrimination. The police are investigating what the two may have said in the situation.
Heikkinen says that those who have been questioned so far in the case, deny that they had committed any crime.
About ten people are to be questioned in the investigation. The number of suspects is not expected to exceed four.
The matter is expected to go to prosecutors in the summer. Discrimination or labour discrimination are punishable by a fine, and up to six months in prison.
Helsingin Sanomat