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Paul (Olmari) of Finland

136 bytes added, 09:22, July 6, 2013
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Life
==Life==
George Paavali Gusev was born in St. Petersburg, Russia on [[August 28]], 1914 to Alvi Gusev and his wife Anna (née Vodomensky) of St. Petersburg, Russia. When the Russian revolution broke out the family moved moved to Viipuri/Vyborg in Finland on the Gulf of Finland and changed their family name to Olmari. George changed his given name to the Finnish Yrjo. In 1926, Yrjo attended the classic grammar school in Viipuri, however his attendance that was cut short by the death of his father in 1932. In 1932, he entered the [[seminary]] in Sortavala and graduated in 1936. After graduating he served his obligation for military service.
At the seminary, Yrjo worked with the student choir and as deputy director of the Sortavala [[Cathedral]] choir. He also began adapting the Slavic language vocal music of the church for use with Finnish. In late 1937, Yrjo joined the [[Valaam Monastery]] on Lake Lodoga, which at the time was within the borders of Finland. In 1938 at the age of twenty three, Yrjo was [[tonsure]]d a [[monk]] with the name Paul and entered the [[Holy Orders]]. Paul taught at the [[monastery]] school and directed a choir of Finnish speaking [[novice]]s.
During the period of hostilities between Finland and the Soviet Union, lasting from winter war of 1939/1940 and its continuation through World War II, Fr. Paul was initially called to service as a military [[priest]] and took part in the evacuation of Valaam monastery. As the war continued he served as a priest to evacuees in Joensuu and Kauhava. During the Continuation War he served in the Aunus (Onega) district in eastern Karelia and after transfer to Jamsa in 1942, he taught religion at a camp for students from eastern Karelia.
After the war Fr. Paul served the Joensuu community as an priest and was appointed editor at the Council of the Publication of Orthodox Literature. He also was named editor-in-chief of the magazine ''Dawn''. For a period from 1946, Fr.Paul took time to resolve his intentions for his future. In 1948, he was assigned as priest to a congregation in Kuopio where he also began editing liturgical service books and scores for church vocal music. In his editorial work he placed emphasis of the importance of divine worship and [[Holy Communion]] , pruning cultural features from the texts to produce a collection of texts and music designed for worship in Finnish. This collection came to be known as 'Paavali's" liturgy.
In 1955 Fr. Paul was elected an assistant [[bishop]], a position that had been vacant since 1925. In this position, Bp. Paul was instrumental in beginning the intellectual and spiritual reconstruction of the Church of Finland. On [[August 29]], 1960, he was elected Archbishop of Karelia and All Finland. As first Hierarch of the Church of Finland, Abp. Paul strengthened the ecumenical relations of the Church of Finland both domestically and internationally. Under Abp. Paul's leadership the Church of Finland entered a new era of recognition in Finland, resulting, in 1970, in the recognition of the Orthodox Church as the Second State Church.
A charismatic and deeply spiritual person, Abp. Paul worked fervently in the development of the liturgical life of the Finnish Church. He encouraged frequent communion of the faithful and saw membership in the Church grow. Abp. Paul also placed much attention on the development of [[New Valamo|New Valaam Monastery]] as a functioning monastery as well as the site of an Orthodox Culture and Research Institute.
{{succession|
before=?|
title=Bishop of ? Joensuu - auxiliary|
years= 1955-1960|
after=?}}
{{succession|
before=[[Herman (Aav)of Finland|Herman (Aav)]]|
title=[[List of Archbishops of Finland|Archbishop of Karelia and All Finland]]|
years=1960-1987|
after=[[John (Rinne) of Nicea|John (Rinne)]]}}
{{end box}}
==Source==
[[Category: Bishops]]
[[Category: Bishops of Karelia]]
[[Category: Archbishops of Finland]]
[[Category: Bishops of Finland]]
[[Category:20th-century bishops]]
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