In Finland, Constantinopolitan Church hierarch convicted of fraud
Archbishop Leo of the Constantinopolitan Church in Finland on the first day of the court hearing. Photo: Heikki Haapalainen / Yle
On February 27, 2026, the North Karelia District Court found former Archbishop Leo of the Finnish Orthodox Church (Leo Makkonen) – a Church within the jurisdiction of the Constantinople Patriarchate – guilty in a case involving financial violations connected to the activities of the Karelian Language Society. Finland’s Yle News Service reported this.
The court sentenced the Phanar hierarch to one year and one month of a suspended prison term for fraud involving state grants and for violating bookkeeping rules under aggravated circumstances. The former secretary of the society received the same suspended sentence. Prosecutors had sought a harsher punishment – one and a half years’ suspended imprisonment along with community service for the former archbishop.
In addition, those convicted were ordered jointly to reimburse Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture more than 160,000 euros for damage caused by the subsidy scheme. Leo must also pay over 9,000 euros in additional compensation. The ministry’s legal expenses, exceeding 30,000 euros, were likewise imposed on the defendants.
The Karelian Language Society, founded in 1995 in Joensuu to support the Karelian language and culture, lost state funding in 2020 after suspicions emerged that the money had been used for purposes other than those intended. The ministry conducted a financial audit and demanded the return of subsidies granted in 2017–2019. Initially, the sum in question was 325,000 euros, but it increased due to accrued interest.
The verdict has not yet entered into legal force and may be appealed.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that a UOC community in Germany transferred to the Constantinople Patriarchate.
Read also
Ukraine loses almost 98% of cases at European Court of Human Rights
According to the ECtHR’s 2025 report, nearly all complaints against Ukraine end with findings of human rights violations.
UOC Chancellor on Kyiv Council decision targeting UOC: Obvious lawlessness
Metropolitan Anthony said the document adopted by the Kyiv Regional Council violates the Constitution, interferes with freedom of religion, and exceeds the body’s authority.
In Finland, Constantinopolitan Church hierarch convicted of fraud
A Finnish court found the former archbishop of the Constantinople Patriarchate guilty of manipulating state subsidies and committing financial violations.
His Beatitude: Pure faith is the only path to soul salvation
On the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, the Primate of the UOC urged the faithful not to tailor faith to human reasoning and passions, and reminded them of the significance of the Ecumenical Councils.
Children from UOC Khust Eparchy parish deliver aid to Ukrainian Armed Forces
Pupils of the Sunday school and members of the church children’s choir in Mizhhiria raised funds and directed them to support Ukrainian servicemen.
U.S. bishops call for Church unity on Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy
The Assembly of Bishops of the USA has issued an encyclical for the Triumph of Orthodoxy on Church unity, veneration of icons, and support for pan-Orthodox ministry.