Features
Religion and the Ghanaian diaspora in Finland
African Catholic Chaplaincy in Finland
The last time, I wrote about how Ghanaian groups or companies operate in some Finnish cities, especially in the Helsinki Metropolitan area.
As I keep pointing out, there are many positive things that Ghanaian individual migrants or groups (or their companies) are accomplishing or trying to accomplish for their wellbeing in Finland.
Today, I focus on the religious activities of Ghanaian migrants in Finland and the role of religion in their lives as part of the many positive things that are happening within the Ghanaian migrant community.
I have promised to write about such positive things at points in time as highlights of how Ghanaian migrants in Finland are making efforts to enhance their wellbeing in Finnish society.
Religious freedom in Finland
Finland is a Christian country where over 3.7 million people (about 66%) of the population of 5.5 million belong to the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Finland, according to 2021 estimates. The remaining figures belong to other denominations, including people who do not profess to belong to any religion (see www.wikipedia.org).
Actually, there is religious freedom in Finland and any individual is free to choose the type of religion to belong to or not to belong to.
The constitution of Finland guarantees freedom of religion and freedom of conscience, according to information on the website of the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture (seehttps://okm.fi/en/freedom-of-religion).
Ghanaian migrants in Finland are free to belong to any religion in Finland or to worship in any church, mosque, synagogue, etc. Thus, the places of worship undoubtedly make up part of the personalities and institutions that have contributed to or ensured the smooth running of things for Ghanaian migrants in Finland.
Christians and Muslims
Many Ghanaian migrants in Finland identify either with Christians or Muslims. Many of the Christian Ghanaian migrants go to church on Sundays.
The Ghanaian Muslim group is a strong, well-knit one, and they visit the mosque on Fridays.
It must be pointed out that there seems to be more Christian Ghanaian migrants in Finland, although this estimation is based on my own rough evaluation and not on any official statistics.
They go to various churches, and some of these churches are even dominated by Ghanaian migrants in Finland.
Churches dominated by Ghanaian migrants
One of the major Pentecostal or Charismatic churches dominated by Ghanaian migrants is the Church of Pentecost (COP) in Finland.
The COP Finland has become one of the major channels through which the Ghana Union Finland (GUF), an association for Ghanaian migrants in Finland, has made more contacts with members of the Ghanaian migrant community.
The church has two branches in Helsinki alone, both dominated by Ghanaian migrants in Finland. There is the Akan Assembly, where worship is done mostly in the Twi language, with the other branch known as the English Assembly (or the PIWC), which is attended by other nationalities and African migrants but is also arguably dominated by Ghanaian migrants.
Other churches frequented by Ghanaians are the Methodist, Temple of Praise (TOP), ICBC, Lighthouse, the Assemblies of God, the Catholic Church, etc. It is likely that other churches, such as the Apostolic Church and Charismatic ones, could also be established soon in Finland.
Ensuring integration
All this indicates the opportunities for members of the Ghanaian diaspora in Finland to integrate into Finnish society through their religious activities and affiliations.
As I keep pointing out, Finland encourages migrants’ participation in the planning of issues concerning the migrants themselves as one of the most efficient ways to improve their inclusion.
Thus, there is an enabling environment created within the Finnish religious ecology that undoubtedly helps migrants, including Ghanaian migrants, to generally integrate into the host Finnish society. Thank you!
• The writer is a Ghanaian lectur er at the University of Helsinki in Finland
By Perpetual Crentsil