Tuulikki Koivunen Bylund

Tuulikki Koivunen Bylund

Tuulikki Koivunen Bylund (born 1947) is a Finnish-born Swedish theologian. She was appointed Bishop of Härnösand in central Sweden on 9 November 2009; she was the fourth woman to be ordained as a bishop in the Church of Sweden. She retired on 13 December 2014.[1][2]

Biography

Born on 19 July 1947 in Turku, south-western Finland,[3] she grew up in Rauma where she matriculated from the girls' high school (Rauman tyttölyseo) in 1967. After graduating in theology from Åbo Akademi University in 1971, she was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Lund, Sweden, the same year.[1] She had emigrated to Sweden because at the time it was not possible for women to enter the clergy in Finland.[3] The churches of Finland and Sweden differed significantly in their admission of women to the clergy.[2]

In 1973, she became the principal diocesan curate in Lund, gaining a similar position in Växjö the following year. She served as a deputy pastor in the Uppsala's Bro Parish from 1976, with responsibility for Uppsala students from 1983. In 1987, she became an assistant pastor of Uppsala Cathedral and parish priest for the Almtuna district. She was appointed dean of Uppsala Cathedral in 1995 before becoming Bishop of Härnösand in 2009.[1]

The consecration ceremony took place in Uppsala Cathedral in November. On the same occasion, another Swedish woman, Eva Brunne, a lesbian living in an authorized partnership with a woman, was consecrated Bishop of Stockholm. The absence of senior representatives from the Church of England at the ceremony was thought by some Swedish media to be a result of the recent decision of the Swedish General Synod to allow same-sex weddings.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Biskop Tuulikki Koivunen Bylund" (in Swedish). Svenska kyrkan. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Koivunen Bylund, Tuulikki (1947 - )" (in Finnish). Biografiakeskus. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  3. 1 2 Ringqvist, Rickard (10 November 2009). "Tuulikki Koivunen Bylund bytte land för att få bli präst" (in Swedish). Dagen. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  4. ↑ "Sweden: episcopal consecrations". Thinking Anglicans. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
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