The administrative court rejected the appeal, but the newly elected Heli Kinisjärvi already had time to leave his seat.
Appellants wanted to prevent the election of a woman as vicar in Ilomantsi in North Karelia. The appellants' central argument was that the “current gendered discussion” with #metoo campaigns would cause men to be wary of the opposite sex.
He was selected for the position last spring Heli Kinisjärvi – as the first woman in the history of Ilomants parish.
The complaint was made to the administrative court immediately after the election and it was justified by the fact that the male members of the congregation may be afraid of having pastoral conversations with a female priest and of being angry with a female priest.
According to the complaint, the decision was against the Equality Act, because it leads to the fact that both theologians of the parish are women and because the decision further increases the female predominance of the parish staff.
The congregation of Ilomantsi is a congregation of two theologians, and after the election of the vicar, both were women. There are seven women and two men from the total staff of the parish.
Administrative Court recently gave its decision in the case, according to which there were no grounds for the appeal. The Church Council's decision to elect Kinisjärvi as vicar was in accordance with the law.
“It was a good and clear decision on administrative law, and of course you couldn't have expected anything else,” says Kinisjärvi.
The Administrative Court stated in its decision that the most meritorious applicant should be selected for the post, and gender should not have an influence on the selection. There were two eligible applicants for the position of vicar, a man and a woman.
The appellants did not even claim that the male applicant who was not selected for the position would have been more meritorious than the female applicant who was selected for the position and that the person who was not selected would have been discriminated against based on their gender.
Since there are only 11 employees in Ilomantsi parish, the parish does not need to have an equality plan. The congregation has also not drawn up an equality plan that could be used to justify the selection of an applicant of the other gender.
Complaint According to Kinisjärvi, the content was confusing and extraordinary, and such a thing is no longer encountered in today's world.
He reminds that the background can be found in the traditions of the region, which are strongly influenced by Orthodoxy.
“There are many Orthodox in Ilomantsi and they have an Orthodox father. Alongside this, a Lutheran father has worked in quotes.”
According to Kinisjärvi, the tradition may have influenced the world of thought, where old-fashioned thinkers “can't even imagine that a woman could be a vicar”.
The appeal process eventually led to Kinisjärvi's working life that he decided to leave Ilomantsi and return to his old position as a chaplain in Kite.
“The complaint about my choice may have had a little effect on the decision, but it wasn't the main reason. I saw that that post at Ilomantsi wasn't my post after all. My old job seemed more suitable.”
Kinisjärvi was on leave from Kitee because the appeal process was in progress. He had not officially accepted the post of vicar, so the return was easy.
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