Ecumenical celebrations have been held to mark the 70th anniversary and 40 years of service of Finnish Bishop Teemu Sippo, the Finnish Ecumenical Council of Churches reported on its website. The thanksgiving Mass, celebrated in the Church of St John the Baptist on Saturday, 27 May, was attended by a large ecumenical delegation including “several Lutheran Bishops, Orthodox Archbishop Leo, the Secretary General of the Finnish Ecumenical Council, and many other people working in the field of ecumenism”, a statement reads. Following the Mass, during the celebrations, “all those present had an opportunity to greet the Bishop”, who is “a staunch supporter and promoter of ecumenism” and has always played an active role in the Ecumenical Council, also serving as its president between 2010 and 2015. Born to a Lutheran family in 1947, Teemu Sippo entered the Catholic Church at the age of 19. Aged 23, he professed his solemn vows in the Congregation of the Dehonian Fathers. Appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as Bishop of Helsinki in 2009, he is the first Catholic Bishop of Finnish origins since the Reformation. There are approximately 15,000 Catholics in Finland today, 10% of them immigrants.