In the 18th century, a Catholic church was founded in Vyborg. The parish was expanded to include the territory of the Grand Duchy of Finland, so Helsinki belonged to the Archbishop of Mohilevi. In the 1850s there were Polish, Ukrainian and Lithuanian soldiers in Finland, among whom there were plenty of Catholics. Already in the next decade there were almost a hundred Catholic civilians. The need arose to establish a congregation of its own in Helsinki. In 1856, the first permanent priest, military chaplain Ignatius Gorbacki, began working in the Catholic chapel congregation in Helsinki. He is considered to be the initiator of the construction of the church, together with Leopoldine, wife of the Governor-General Count Friedrich Berg, who belonged to the noble Cicogna family from Milan. The Apostolic Vicariate of Finland was founded on June 8, 1920. Pope Pius decided to elevate the Apostolic Vicar of Finland to a diocese on February 25, 1955. St. Henry’s Church now became an episcopal church, a cathedral.
The design of the Catholic church was given to the architect Ernst Bernhard Lohrmann. He was born in Westphalia on June 30, 1803. Lohrmann completed the renovation of the Helsinki Cathedral, designed by Engel who designed, among other things, University of Helsinki clinical department, the Hagasund villa and the post office building on Snellmaninkatu. An open site was chosen as the location for the Catholic church, next to the health resort, outside Ulrikasborg’s Brunnspark. The church is a neo-Gothic long church with an end tower, built in brick. On the rear facade, Lohrmann drew small saccades on both sides of the pentagonal scale apse. The church was ceremonially blessed for use on 16 September 1860, and the actual dedication of the church took place on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on 14 September, 1904. The church building has been modernized and changes have been made to it for liturgical reasons.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the green roof was changed to red and the brass stars that adorned the top of the tower disappeared. The choir’s simple stained glass windows were replaced in 1908 with English stained glass windows: Saint Henry, the Crucifixion Group and Saint Birgitta. The latter was badly damaged in the bombings and has been replaced by a new one. In the 1940s, the Dutch artist Wim van Dijk painted a large mural on the wall facing the church hall. Later, the painting was removed due to the expansion work of the choir opening. The panels above the side altars were replaced with wooden statues representing Mary and Joseph. They were made in 1936 by Johan Friedl, who also made the bishop’s seat and shell chairs.
In the 1950s, a new sacristy was built to the left as seen from the main door. In the 1960s, the need for reform and modernization grew. According to architect Kaj Salenius’ plans, the church hall and choir were expanded, the former small sacristy rooms, the cross fence and the altar were removed. A wooden altar was temporarily placed in the center of the chancel. The pulpit was replaced by two stone ambos. The octagonal sacristy was converted into a sacrament chapel and it was given windows. The mosaic is from the 1980s from a Florentine shop.
In the early 1980s, the church hall was renovated mainly for liturgical reasons to meet the needs of the Episcopal Church. The renovation gave space and clarity to the church. The wooden altar was removed and a new one made of limestone. Saint Henry’s relic was placed on the altar on Saint Henry’s feast day, January 19, 2000. Before the centennial of the church’s dedication in 2004, the church hall was renovated. The most visible change are the new lamps bought from Italy.
Kari Harmoinen
Source: Kalevi Pöykkö, St. Henrik’s Cathedral, Gummerus Kirjapaino Oy, Saarijärvi 2000