THE Orthodox Archbishop of Karelia and All Finland, Leo Makkonen, is currently on the island for a one week visit.  Archbishop Leo is scheduled to meet with President Christofias at the Presidential Palace at 9:30am on Monday.

Whilst the majority of the religious Finnish population comes under the domain of the Evangelical Lutheran Archbishop of Turku, 1.1 per cent of the population are adherents of the independent Finnish Orthodox Church which was, until 1923, part of Russian Orthodoxy.  The Finnish Orthodox Church is now an autonomous Orthodox Archbishopric of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

In 2001 Archbishop Leo assumed his post as head of the diocese of Karelia, a region in northern Finland whose ownership has been historically disputed with Russia and which is currently divided between the two countries.

During his visit, Archbishop Leo conveyed messages expressing his support to the Cypriot people and said that Finland watches with great interest developments in the Cyprus situation.  He characterised the Cyprus Problem as “heavy and difficult”.

During his visit Archbishop Leo will be visiting the Byzantine Museum and the church of Saint Theklis.