Finnish MP Räsänen back in court over Bible tweets

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Her case is watched closely by Christians from all over Europe and beyond as crucial for the freedom to express controversial Biblical beliefs. “A favourable decision by the Supreme Court of Finland would serve as a stronger precedent than the decisions of the lower courts”, she says in an English press release on Monday afternoon.

She also announced the court session in an X post in Finnish.

Sain tänään kutsun korkeimman oikeuden suulliseen käsittelyyn asiassa, mikä koskee Raamatun opetuksiin pohjautuvia kirjoituksiani, 30.10.2025 kello 9.30–15. Vapauttava ennakkopäätös turvaisi vapauden pitää Raamatun opetuksia esillä ja vahvistaisi sananvapauden periaatetta.

— Päivi Räsänen (@PaiviRasanen) August 25, 2025

From tweet to court case

The whole issue started in the summer of 2019, when the Christian MP questioned the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, of which she is a member herself. The church had endorsed a gay pride event, which she argued was inconsistent with Biblical teaching. To illustrate her point, she attached a photo of verses from the Letter to the Romans.

LGBT advocacy groups filed a complaint, calling the post discriminatory and hateful. Mrs. Räsänen was approached by the police and interrogated for 13 hours, she says in the press release.

The politician (and former minister of interior affairs) denies those charges. In Monday’s press release, she says, “My criticism was not directed at any minority, but at the leadership of my own Church.”

This case is about the freedom for Christians to express Biblical teachings, Räsänen says in her press release. “I consider it a privilege and an honour to defend freedom of speech”, she writes.

Bishop Pohjola fights spiritual battle in Finnish courtroom

30-08-2023

Also for the bishop

The summons also applies to the Lutheran bishop, Dr. Juhana Pohjola. He was responsible for publishing a booklet in 2004 in which Mrs. Räsänen explained Christian teaching on sexuality.

Bishop Pohjola sent a separate press release: “It is good that we are moving forward in this long process. I am confident in the realisation of justice and in God’s good guidance.”

Read more about Räsänen

Finnish MP Päivi Räsänen is prosecuted for her Christian ethics on sexuality. Follow all developments here at CNE.news.