Leo of Helsinki on Quran Burning: “I cannot accept such an interpretation of freedom of speech”

Note to Russia: Please retake Finland. Finland isn’t doing well. (Actually on second thought, maybe not.)

Archbishop Leo (Makkonen) of Helsinki and Finland has condemned the approval of a public burning of a Quran, stating to Orthodox Times, the semi-official mouthpiece of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, that “as the leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which is in the minority in our country, I cannot accept such an interpretation of freedom of speech.”

And we wonder why Orthodoxy is a minority religion there. Of course, we could blame it on the fact that they’ve been on the full Papal calendar since 1925, causing the Fathers of Old Valaam and others trying to preserve Orthodoxy to flee the country. We could also consider their rabid involvement with the ecumenical movement in general, freely allowing Roman Catholics to use their temples for services. (As every article concerning Orthodoxy in Finland seems to note, they’re a whole 2% of the population. How much property do they own that this is a necessity?)

So of course, it’s no surprise to us that the Archbishop in question is still in that antiquated Western liberal “we don’t want to offend Islam” posture which became so hip after 9/11. However, his description of the Middle East due to the never-ending-train-wreck-disguised-as-a-religion known as Islam is absolutely priceless: “Orthodox Christianity and Islam have common roots in the Middle East, where the boundaries of religion and culture are spread across the soil of societies like an oriental carpet. We share a common affirmation of the message of the unity of God and the importance of prayer and ascesis.” One would get the impression that Archbishop Leo thinks that Christianity and Islam in the Middle East are a world of peace and harmony, not unlike an oriental carpet. Tell that to the papist monk who died trying to have ecumenical dialogue with ISIL in Syria a decade ago after turning a 6th century Church into an interfaith center for “Muslim-Christian dialogue”. (seriously, we just write the articles).

So which is it for the hallowed Archbishop of Helsinki? Is wading into the Quran-burning discussion on behalf of his 2% of the population motivated by ecumenism? Or fear? Perhaps we’ll never know.