Freemasonry has, off and on, been accused of conspiracies and plots against governments as well as being anti-Christ and hostile to the church. In Finland, freemasonry has travelled through similar difficulties.
    The first freemasons’ lodge began operations in Finland at the end of the 1750s. It was already presented with a powerful critique directed at the ideologies and operation of freemasonry by the diocesan synod meeting held in Porvoo in 1769.
    Impetus for the first Finnish lodge came from work being carried out at the Viapori Fortress near Helsinki, and its garrison. The Finnish St Johannes Lodge, named St Augustin, operated partly in Stockholm and partly in Turku, but later mainly in Helsinki.
    Throughout its entire period of operation the lodge had 460 members, consisting of officers (60.6%), legal representatives (12.6%), civil servants (8.9%) and priests (2.8%).
    During the operation of St Augustin Lodge there were numerous other secret societies working in Finland which, over time, have become associated with freemasonry through Finnish folklore. Still 100 years after their cessation, they rise out of the past to cast an extraordinary shadow over freemasonry.
    As a result of Swedish war losses, Finland was joined to Russia in 1809. The St Augustin Lodge remained in operation until 1808, but was only officially suspended by the Grand Master in 1813. The Russian Czar’s attitude towards freemasonry was loyal at the beginning, but gradually became more and more suspicious.
    The formal injunction on secret societies proclaimed in 1822, 1826 and 1848 prohibited freemasonry throughout Russia and Finland.
    Finland’s independence directly resulted in the founding of Suomi Lodge No 1 on 22 August 1922. The 27 accepted as members came from the upper social level of society. They included the composer Jean Sibelius, several influential administrators and businessmen, as well as ministers and ambassadors.
    The Grand Lodge of Finland was founded in 1924 and by 1939 there were 407 members, and 38 foreign Grand Lodges had approved its sovereignty.
    The rekindling of freemasonry in Finland could perhaps have been more naturally expected through the aid of Grand Lodges from neighbouring countries. But, as Finnish interest was directed mainly towards Denmark, England and America, co-operation with the Grand Lodge of Sweden was not productive.
    At the time, freemasonry was still highly esteemed in Sweden, as the King of Sweden was Grand Master. The Grand Lodge of Sweden revitalised the St Augustin Lodge, which began anew in Helsinki.
    Finnish freemasonry progressed in the 1920s, but the arrival of the teachings of the "New World Order" from Germany stuck its thorns into freemasonry remorselessly.
    Freemasonry in Finland received a terrible blow when mutilated body parts were found by accident in the early fall of 1930 at Tattarisuo, near Helsinki. Suspected were medical students who perhaps required body parts for their studies, or freemasons as they were claimed, to use body parts in their ritual ceremonies.
    The medical students were soon eliminated as suspects, but freemasons remained in the headlines for almost two years, even though no proof was ever presented. In August 1932 it was finally proven that the murderers were four insane individuals who believed in the supernatural, and had received from "above" the instruction to do the mutilations.
    The guilty were sent to prison, but the campaign against freemasonry carried out in the press had left a permanent shadow hanging over Finnish freemasonry.
    The St Augustin Lodge in Helsinki had many military officers as members, but in the early 1930s there were only 22 officers in Finnish lodges. In connection with the Tattarisuo incident, it was publicly debated whether it was appropriate for someone who had taken a masonic oath to serve as a military officer.
    The issue came before the League of Military Officers in the spring of 1931. A district captain for the home guard, Lt Col Paavo Susitaival, presented a statement where the League considered it improper for military officers to be freemasons.
    The matter took a long time and led to a letter from the chief of the military forces, Hugo Osterman, forbidding his subordinates to belong to a lodge. Following this ban, 18 officers and two civilians as well as officers from Swedish lodges, were granted exemption from their membership.
    During the 1930s the third attack on Finnish freemasonry came from the church. The diocesan synod meeting at Viipuri in autumn 1932, and the church assembly the following spring of 1933, also considered whether it was appropriate for a servant of the church to be a freemason.
    Many priests and parish deacons considered freemasonry to be an anti-Christian belief, and claimed the oaths to be in opposition to the Bible. An amendment to the existing church law was proposed, which would forbid membership in the order. Though this decision was never carried out, the public debate surrounding the issue once again placed freemasonry in a bad light.
    The political extremes of Germany during the 1930s were model examples of the anti-freemasonry front. The academic Karelian Society, the Lapua Movement, the Citizens Patriots, the Viitasaari Patriotic Society and other Nazi organisations, continuously kept the question of freemasonry open. They did this by publishing the names of freemasons and by financing anti-masonic printed material.
    In the autumn of 1939 there were five lodges operating under the Grand Lodge of Finland, of which one lodge was Swedish-speaking. Altogether, there were 407 members. Membership in the Swedish lodges was somewhat higher.
    Bitter persecution caused not only military officers to resign, but other non-military members as well. The operation of lodges became somewhat paralysed, members became passive and new members were not to be found. Active freemasons under the Grand Lodge of Finland were down to 278 by the beginning of the Winter War.
    The decade ended as an MP, Lt Col Paavo Susitaipale, introduced a motion to ban freemasonry in Finland by law. The motion was thrown out without discussion on 23 April 1940.
    When President Kyosti Kallio left office in November 1939, the Finnish parliament approved a deviation rule concerning presidential elections; the strongest candidate was Prime Minister Risto Ryti, a member of Suomi Lodge No 1.
    Finnish freemasons were very concerned about foreign politics and its effects on freemasonry in Finland, Since the German position on freemasonry was hostile, it was feared that the situation could be seen as though freemasonry in Finland was provoking foreign political operation.
    Prime Minister Ryti, in talks with freemasons, suggested that at some point interruption of masonic activity could be desirable for the country, and even essential. However, he added that any motion for interruption should come from freemasons themselves.
    Otherwise, he warned, the situation could be interpreted by the Americans as being an imposed sanction, and therefore an insult. The interruption of Swedish freemasonry could be seen as a direct insult to the King of Sweden, who was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Sweden.
    Acting in complete agreement with the Finnish government, both masonic organisations interrupted all activities at the beginning of 1941. When Ryti was elected President of the Finnish Republic, Finnish freemasons no longer maintained their relationship with him.
    For Finland, the war ended on 4 September 1944, and by fall the same year, planning for resumption of masonic activity was taking place.
    It was not an easy task. Lodge meeting places had been given up, parts of the furnishings were lost, and lodge assets had been donated to charity.
    After the war, there were war crimes trials that involved three freemasons: Risto Ryti as the accused, Toivo Tarjanne as the prosecuting attorney and Hjalmar Procope as defence attorney. The trial was not affected by their masonic membership, and Toivo Tarjanne later became Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Finland.
    The 1950s and 1960s were periods of enthusiastic building and freemasonry was able to develop in peace until the late 1970s. By the middle of the decade there were 75 lodges. Gradually, however, newspaper articles began to appear, in which freemasons were suspected and accused of cronyism.
    Publicity in the 1980s became almost a complete repetition of the 1930s. The P2 Masonic Lodge scandal in Italy brought freemasonry to media attention. Although P2 was not an approved lodge, it was used an example regarding the suitability of freemasonry in modern society.
    With the ambiguity of the circumstances surrounding the Helsinki Metro, this subject became emphasised and exaggerated. The Metro administration and management was placed on trial charged with misconduct and bribery. Among the 50 accused were two freemasons.
    One of the freemasons received a sentence. When the media discovered that the sitting judge was a freemason, the press developed an entire series on the "great trial of freemasonry".
    Subjects other than the Metro trial and P2 scandal included municipal politics, the masonic oath in relation to oath of office, the issue of non-public freemason membership lists, church and religious questions, as well as general accusations and slander.
    Following a libellous article on freemasons published in Seura magazine, journalist Eeropekka Rislakki received a six-month conditional prison sentence.
    The Grand Lodge of Finland sent out only two corrections during the ten-year period, because from earlier experience they found the media unwilling to publish them. In addition, Finland’s Grand Lodge was of the opinion that responding to false accusations was generally considered unnecessary.
    Questions about freemasonry were raised in the Finnish parliament during the 1980s. Each of the respective responses from the Minister of Justice emphasised that freemasonry in Finland was a controlled civic activity based on Finnish Law. Nothing had ever been demonstrated that would present cause for intervention in its activities.
    A discussion within church circles was initiated from the Oulu diocese meeting in 1981. Anti-masonic addresses at the meeting forced Finnish freemasons to find an open forum for discussion with church representatives.
    These discussions led to an examination directed by the Church Research Centre. Theology doctor Harri Heino’s first research report, Freemasonry and Christianity, opened understanding of the religious beliefs of freemasons. It demonstrated that freemasonry is not a religion or an institution competing with the church.
    Dr Heino continued his research, and again published a report in 1995 entitled What Does A Freemason Believe? The report examined the values of Finnish freemasons, their ethics and their faith. It demonstrated that Finnish freemasons deeply respect both Christian and societal values more than Finnish men of the same age do in general.
    The most ferocious combatant of freemasonry in Finland, Paavo Susitaival, said in 1932: "Freemasons have partially admitted, or at the very least, by not disputing, allowed public claims that they demand their members to swear oaths containing the threat of death."
    In 1985 a journalist from Savonlinna announced that "the slandered and the defamed make it easier on themselves by not demanding redress to their honour because the press will write what it wants to anyway."
    The ethics and religious values as well as masonic activities have been researched in Finland. The most important motive for joining is the need for self-improvement and expanding one’s circle of friends.
    The secrecy associated with freemasonry or the possible potential financial advantages mean very little to candidates or even long-term members.
    The age of joining is, on average, 42.2 and the median member is 52.3. The general professions are managing director, engineer, doctor, lawyer, bank director, school dean or teacher, sales manager, forester and architect.
    There were 59.8% of members within the 25 most general professions. There were 54.1% with an academic degree from an institution of higher education and 32.2% at university or college level. Out of the entire male population of age 24 and above, the corresponding figures are 12.5% and 43% respectively.
    Finnish freemasonry has developed admirably despite all the adversity and setback. There have been many that have reinforced the values of the organisation and have deeply absorbed the teachings. Supplementing their work have been good builders, organisers and leaders.

Reijo Ahtokari is Past Assistant Grand Master, Grand Lodge of Finland and Grand Sovereign of the Finnish Supreme Council 33 Degree. This article is based on his doctoral thesis “Secrets and Oaths, Freemasonry in Finnish Society and Public Record 1756 – 1996.” Translated by Louis Handley.