Country of Publication:

• Finland

Ruth Illman, Kimmo Ketola, Riitta Latvio & Jussi Sohlberg (eds.) (2017) Monien uskontojen ja katsomusten Suomi. Helsinki. Kirkon tutkimuskeskus. https://evl.fi/plus/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Ktk-Monien-uskontojen-ja-katsomusten-Suomi.pdf

Project Title: Post-Secular Culture and a Changing Religious Landscape

Project Aims & Objectives:

The erosion of religion – secularization – was long held to constitute an inevitable feature and consequence of modernity and condition of modernization. However, as argued by an increasing number of scholars today, religion has not, after all, lost its societal and cultural relevance as predicted. For instance, immigrant religions, charismatic movements, new religious movements, and alternative spiritualities exemplify the resilience of religion as a social and cultural force. In order to conceptualize this situation in contrast to traditional narratives of secularization, Western societies of today are often referred to in terms of a post-secular culture.

Åbo Akademi University centre of excellence in research 2010-2014 – PCCR – “Post-Secular Culture and a Changing Religious Landscape” is a research project devoted to qualitative and ethnographic investigations of the changing religious landscape in Finland.

Scholars/Institutions: Peter Nynäs, Måns Broo, Kennet Granholm, Tuija Hovi, Ruth Illman, Tuomas Martikainen, Marcus Moberg, Jan Svanberg, Terhi Utriainen

Start Date: January 1, 2010

End Date: December 31, 2014

Research Methods: interviews

Findings/Outcomes:

https://web.abo.fi/fak/hf/relvet/pccr/projects.html

Project Webpage: https://web.abo.fi/fak/hf/relvet/pccr/

Funding Institution: Åbo Akademi University

Funding Information: 1000000

Keywords: religion, post-secular, migration, spirituality

Country of Publication:

• Finland

Website: https://uskot.fi/en/home-2/

Mission:

The National Forum for Cooperation of Religions in Finland (CORE Forum) brings together seven religions: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, the Latter-day Saints, Buddhism, Hinduism and The Bahá’í Faith. The CORE Forum’s member communities are the Central Council of Jewish Communities in Finland, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, the Finnish Ecumenical Council, the Finnish Islamic Congregation, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Finland, the Finnish Buddhist Union and Hindu Forum in Finland. The Finnish Bahá’í Community became an observer member of the Forum in 2024.

The CORE Forum’s mission is to foster peace in society by promoting interfaith dialogue, cooperation and mutual respect. Our key values include equality and freedom of religion. The right to practice and manifest religion and the assertion of the equality of religions are also founding principles in a democratic society.

Despite their differences, all religions are united by their core values of peace, understanding and responsibility. These values also guide the CORE Forum’s operations. The CORE Forum is a member of the Religions for Peace network and thus also a link in a worldwide movement to promote interfaith dialogue.

The CORE Forum cooperates with the public authorities, acts as an expert in religious matters, participates in social dialogue and organises various events. In all our work, we promote the visible role of religion in everyday life and the visibility of religious representatives as active social participants.

Country of Publication:

• Finland