Church finances nearly balanced, but still heavily dependent on foreign support
The Catholic Church in Finland continues to grow steadily, and the financial impact of this growth is first seen on the expenditure side: as parish life becomes more active and the Church’s activities reach an increasing number of people, more staff, premises and services are needed. In 2025, the Church’s expenditure increased across the board, particularly personnel and premises costs. Encouragingly, revenues also grew, bringing the result close to break-even. However, the Church’s finances remain heavily dependent on foreign support and one-off items.
Income received from members – membership fees, collections and donations combined – increased from approximately €1,016,000 to €1,146,000 in 2025, a rise of almost 13 per cent. The clearest driver of this growth was collections, which rose by more than 27 per cent, from approximately €367,000 to €467,000. This is encouraging and reflects above all how electronic giving – particularly MobilePay – has made it easier to contribute to collections. Donations also increased, from approximately €119,000 to €137,000. Income from membership fees, however, remained practically unchanged, rising from approximately €530,000 to €542,000, an increase of just over two per cent. This remains a concern: our membership is growing, but the proportion of members paying the membership fee is not increasing at the same rate. Nevertheless, the membership fee remains the most stable and important foundation of our Church’s finances.
The overall financial result of the Church improved considerably. Whereas the 2024 financial statements showed a deficit of approximately €259,000, the result for 2025 was close to break-even, with a deficit of only about €8,000. This improvement is real and welcome, but it is important to explain its background openly. A single bequest of approximately €119,000 had a substantial positive impact on the result. We are deeply grateful for gifts of this kind, but as one-off items they cannot be expected to recur. Comparability between the two years is also affected by a correction to the accrual of a grant from Bonifatiuswerk, which partly explains the change in the result from one year to the next. Without these items, the financial result of the local Church would have been considerably weaker. This is an important reminder that financial stability must be built on a regular income base rather than exceptional one-off items.
In 2025, expenditure grew faster than regular income. Across the local Church, personnel costs increased by more than one fifth and premises costs by approximately eight per cent. Much of this increase reflects deliberate investment in the Church’s activities, but it also means a permanently higher level of expenditure that must be financed anew each year. Going forward, this development therefore requires careful financial management and a corresponding strengthening of the regular income base.
Foreign support remains highly significant, although it is declining. In 2025, support from the German organisations Bonifatiuswerk and Ansgarwerk towards the Church’s operating expenses totalled approximately €559,000, compared with approximately €590,000 the previous year. Without this support, our Church would be running a substantial deficit. The support remains essential to us, but its gradual decline underlines the importance of increasing our own financial self-sufficiency in the long term.
Significant investments were also launched during the year. The largest project is the renovation of the Bishop’s House following moisture damage. The expenditure has been capitalised on the balance sheet as an investment in progress and therefore does not affect the result for the year. Renovation and improvement works were also carried out on the premises of St Henry’s Cathedral Parish. These investments were financed primarily through external grants: more than €600,000 was received in total, including support from Bonifatiuswerk and the US-based Clover Foundation. These grants do not pass through the income statement but are deducted directly from the acquisition cost of the assets on the balance sheet. Our investments therefore do not place their full financial burden on the Church itself – but at the same time they depend heavily on the support of international donors.
There continue to be considerable structural differences between the parishes. The largest parishes are doing well, while some smaller parishes run deficits even on the basis of their regular income. Ensuring that these parishes are able to continue their work is a shared responsibility of the entire Diocese and cannot be left to depend solely on their own revenues.
Overall, 2025 was a positive year financially: income from our members increased, the result improved, and the finances of our local Church developed in the right direction. At the same time, the financial statements remind us that stable finances are built over the long term on regular support. Every membership fee paid and every contribution to a collection is part of this common effort. I warmly thank all our parishioners who sustain the work of our Church through their contributions – your support makes all of this possible.
I wish all our readers a blessed beginning to the autumn.
Tommi Reinikainen
Diocesan Finance Officer
More detailed information about the Church’s finances is available at katolinen.fi.