Archbishop Aleksi Emanuel Lehtonen

Aleksi Emanuel Lehtonen toimi arkkipiispana vuosina 1945–1951.

Ensimmäinen papin virkapaikka Lehtosella oli Laviassa. Myöhemmin Lehtonen toimi Helsingin pohjoisen suomalaisen seurakunnan kappalaisen virassa vuodesta 1917, josta hän vuonna 1922 siirtyi Helsingin yliopistoon käytännöllisen teologian professori Lauri Ingmanin assistentiksi kymmeneksi vuodeksi. Dosenttina Lehtonen oli 1927-1932. Ingmanin jälkeen hän hoiti käytännöllisen teologian professorin virkaa ja nimitettiin itse virkaan 1932. Piispa Jaakko Gummeruksen äkillisen poismenon jälkeen Lehtonen valittiin vuonna 1934 Tampereen piispaksi ja tuli vuonna 1945 Suomen kahdeksanneksi arkkipiispaksi Turun piispanistuimelle. Kotimaa-lehden päätoimittajuutta hän hoiti vuodet 1917-1919.

https://billiongraves.com/grave/Aleksi-Emanuel-Lehtonen/26340939

Lehtonen was ordained to priesthood in 10 June 1911. Later he was professor of pastoral theology in University of Helsinki, Bishop of Tampere 1934-1945 and archbishop of Turku 1945–1951.

Lehtonen was active in Ecumenical movement and sought Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland to have closer relationship with Church of England.

His son Samuel Lehtonen became Bishop of Helsinki.

Aleksi Emanuel Lehtonen (June 21, 1891, Uusikaupunki – March 27, 1951) was archbishop of Turku 1945–1951.

Lehtonen was ordained to priesthood in 10 June 1911. Later he was professor of pastoral theology in University of Helsinki, Bishop of Tampere 1934-1945 and archbishop of Turku 1945–1951.

“Towards ‘a real reunion’?” Archbishop Aleksi Lehtonen’s efforts for closer relations with the Church of England 1945-1951 Mika K T Pajunen Luther-Agricola-Society Helsinki 2008 Luther-Agricola-Seura PL 33 (Aleksanterinkatu 7) FIN-00014 Helsingin yliopisto Finland Distributed by: Bookstore Tiedekirja Kirkkokatu 14 FIN-00170 Helsinki www.tiedekirja.fi © Mika K T Pajunen & Luther-Agricola-Seura ISBN 978-952-10-5143-2 (PDF) ISSN 1236-9675 Cover photo: Museovirasto KL 6.1.-87 Aleksi Lehtonen 1891- 1951. Valok. Tenhovaara Gummerus Kirjapaino Oy Jyväskylä 2008 Abstract This is an historical study of the relationship between the Church of England and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland during the archiepiscopate of Aleksi Lehtonen between 1945 and 1951. I have studied the relations of the churches from three perspectives: ecumenical; church politics; and political. The period begins with the aftermath of the visit of the Rev. H.M. Waddams to Finland in December 1944, and ends with the death of Archbishop Lehtonen at Easter 1951. The rhythm for the development of relations was set by the various visits between the churches. These highlight the development of relations from Waddams’ pro-Soviet agenda at the beginning of the period to the diametrically opposed attitude of Church of England visitors after the beginning of the Cold War. Official Church of England visitors to Finland were met by the highest political leadership alongside church leaders. The Finnish Church sought to use good relations with the Church of England as a means of gaining support and understanding for church and nation against the perceived Soviet threat, especially during the Finnish ”years of danger” from 1944 to 1948. The Church of England wished to help the Finnish Church, but remained cautious, feeling that this might cause more harm than good vis-à-vis the Soviet Union. From the ecumenical perspective, the churches were drawn together by post-war Christian reconstruction and Lehtonen’s efforts to continue the pre-war development towards reunion. Lehtonen was motivated by both evangelical catholic theology and his desire to promote the western contacts of both church and nation. Lehtonen’s insistence that the 1930s negotiations be continued posed a challenge to the Church of England. The ecumenical policy of the Council on Foreign Relations under its chairman Bishop G.K.A. Bell and its general secretary Waddams concentrated on the Lutheran churches of Denmark, Norway and Iceland, who unlike Sweden 6 “Towards ‘a real reunion’?” and Finland had as yet no official agreement with the Church of England. The Finnish case advocated by Lehtonen was left to mature, a phrase that indicated a perceived need to wait for the apostolic succession to percolate through the church. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, took a practical and reactive approach to relations with the Finnish Church. Both churches had small numbers of enthusiastic people in favour of closer relations. In England, they were often motivated by a need to support Finland during troubled times, as evidenced by the establishment of a circle to pray for Finland in the spring of 1948. In Finland, Lehtonen advocated a high church liturgical revival, a project especially undertaken by his chaplain, the Rev. Toivo Harjunpää and the young high church clergy the Archbishop supported. This was opposed by conservative pietists, who saw it as an alien Anglo-Catholic influence on the Finnish Church. Popular understanding of Anglicanism was affected despite the endeavours of Lehtonen and those close to him by a conservative pietistic interpretation, which saw Anglicanism as both too catholic and too reformed. Relations began to settle after the 1948 Lambeth Conference, which Lehtonen attended in preference to important ecumenical conferences the same year. The Lambeth Conference encouraged the approval of the 1930s negotiations’ recommendations by the Anglican churches that had not yet considered them. Lehtonen seemed content with this. Meanwhile, ecumenical reconstruction, which had provided the churches with a channel for closer relations, drew to an end. Lehtonen continued to advocate better relations, but without his former vigour because of his declining health. When he died in 1951, there was no obvious candidate among the Finnish bishops to take on his pro-Anglican mantle. Lehtonen was active in Ecumenical movement and sought Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland to have closer relationship with Church of England.

His son Samuel Lehtonen became Bishop of Helsinki.

http://www.blf.fi/artikel.php?id=3004

Orvoksi (7-vuotiaana) kahden sisarensa (Aina Sofia, s, 1880 ja Anna Lovisan, s. 1890, kanssa. Rippikirjassa 1901-1910: Kaupunginpalvelijan orpolapset. Todennäköisesti sisar Aina Sofia jotenkin nuoremmista sisaruksistaan huolehtinut. Muuttomerkintä Uudenkaupungin RK:ssa: Helsinki 6.10.1911. (kts)