It is a worrying fact that the right of Catholics, and indeed all Christians, to manifest their beliefs can’t be taken for granted these days. But freedom received a major boost this morning from, of all places, the Court of Appeal in Lutheran Finland. The background was an affair that has been simmering in the background for some time, and should have had a higher profile.
Finnish politician on trial for ‘hate speech’ for defending traditional marriage
Päivi Räsänen is a veteran Finnish parliamentarian and previous home affairs minister, who also happens to be a doctor and a convinced Christian. In 2019, following news that the Lutheran church she followed had partnered with Pride, she tweeted a copy of Romans 1: 24-27, which lays down in the clearest terms the teaching of the church on sexual ethics, followed by the question: “How does the doctrine of the Church fit in with the fact that shame and sin are raised as a matter of pride?” Shortly afterwards she repeated the same views on a radio discussion programme.
