Finland: Church won't allow pastors to officiate gay weddings
Finland's largest religious body will not allow its pastors to officiate same-sex weddings, despite country-wide legislation that will allow gay couples to marry next year.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, which has around four million members, has issued guidelines to church leaders that says the new law on March 1, 2017, will "have no effect on the rights of pastors to officiate church weddings".
The Bishops' Conference, which wrote the guidelines, said that the Church Handbook states that marriage is between a man and a woman, and this will not change....
