In January 2024, Archbishop Leo (b. 1948) of Helsinki and All Finland, who has been serving as Archbishop of the Autonomous Orthodox Church of Finland since 2001, formally requested permission from His All-Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, to retire during the 2024 Easter period.
His All-Holiness referred the request to the Synodical Inter-Orthodox Commission for review. Following a meeting of the Holy and Sacred Synod at the Patriarchal headquarters in Phanar on May 17-18, 2024, Archbishop Leo’s retirement request was approved. The retirement will take effect during the upcoming Clergy-Laity Church Assembly in Valamo Monastery on November 25-28, 2024.
The Church Council of the Orthodox Church of Finland will include the election of the new Archbishop on the agenda for the Clergy-Laity Church Assembly meeting.
As per the Tomos of the Autonomous Orthodox Church of Finland, the decision of the Assembly will be forwarded to the Ecumenical Patriarchate for further canonical procedures.