The foreign relations of Finland are the responsibility of the president of Finland, who leads foreign policy in cooperation with the government. Implicitly the government is responsible for internal policy and decision making in the European Union. Within the government, preparative discussions are conducted in the government committee of foreign and security policy, which includes the Prime Minister and at least the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Defence, and at most four other ministers as necessary. The committee meets with the President as necessary. Laws concerning foreign relations are discussed in the parliamentary committee of foreign relations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs implements the foreign policy.
The Catholic Church in Finland is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
Finland is a predominantly Christian nation where 65.2% of the Finnish population of 5.6 million are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (Protestant), 32.0% are unaffiliated, 1.1% are Orthodox Christians, 0.9% are other Christians and 0.8% follow other religions like Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, folk religion etc. These statistics do not include, for example, asylum seekers who have not been granted a permanent residence permit.
Caritas Europa is a European confederation of Catholic social service providers and international development and humanitarian relief organisations operating in Europe. It is one of the seven regions of Caritas Internationalis.
Development and Peace, officially the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace and also known as Caritas Canada is the official international development and humanitarian aid agency of the Catholic Church in Canada. It is a member of Caritas Internationalis, CIDSE, the Halifax Initiative and many other networks.
The Finnish Red Cross is an independent member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which is one of the biggest and best-known international organisations in the world and in the field of humanitarian aid. FRC has over 71,000 members and around 30,000 active volunteers in Finland. FRC consists of 12 regional chapters and 433 local branches throughout the country. The current General Secretary is Eero Rämö. At the end of 2022, the FRC employed 787 people, of which 204 worked at the headquarters in Helsinki.
Caritas Pakistan opened in 1965 and has many years of humanitarian assistance history in Pakistan. It is affiliated with Caritas Internationalis, a Roman Catholic humanitarian organisation and one of the largest networks dedicated to reducing poverty and injustice in the world.
Teemu Jyrki Juhani Sippo, S.C.I. is a Finnish retired Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Helsinki from 2009 to 2019. He was the first Finnish-born Catholic bishop since Arvid Kurck (1464–1522).
Cordaid is an internationally operating value-based emergency relief and development organization, mostly working in conflict-affected countries. It is one of the biggest international development organizations in the Netherlands, with a network of hundreds of partner organizations in countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Caritas Internationalis is a confederation of 162 national Catholic relief, development and social service organisations operating in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. The name Caritas Internationalis refers to both the global network of Caritas organisations and to its general secretariat based in the Vatican City in Rome, Italy.
Finnish Buddhist Union, commonly abbreviated SBU, is an umbrella organisation for different Buddhist associations in Finland and is thus not affiliated to any particular school of Buddhism. In total there're around 40 different Buddhist organisations in the country although some of them are not officially registered. The aims of SBU are among other things to represent Buddhist associations in Finland on both national and international level, to make practicing Buddhism easier in Finland, to increase awareness of the religion and participate the public discussion about different world views.
Caritas Middle East and North Africa, also known as Caritas MONA, is a Catholic charity network active in the Middle East and North Africa and in the Horn of Africa. It is one of the seven regions of the worldwide Caritas Internationalis confederation.
Caritas Latin America and Caribbean is a network of Catholic nonprofit organisations active in Latin America and the Caribbean and one of the seven regions of the global Caritas Internationalis confederation.
Caritas Madagascar is a Catholic development and relief agency in Madagascar, established 1959. It is a member of the global Caritas Internationalis confederation as well as of Caritas Africa.
Caritas Uganda is the official social development arm of the Catholic Church in Uganda. It has been operating since 1970 and is implementing social welfare and development projects all over the country, while also acting as a humanitarian relief agency when needed. Caritas Uganda is a member of Caritas Africa and of Caritas Internationalis.
Caritas Jordan is a Jordanian Catholic charitable organisation.
Caritas Syria is a Syrian Catholic charitable and humanitarian aid organisation.
Caritas Sweden is a Catholic aid organisation from Sweden. It is part of the European network of Caritas organisations Caritas Europa, as well of the global confederation Caritas Internationalis.
Caritas Norway is a Catholic aid organisation from Norway. It is part of the European network of Caritas organisations Caritas Europa, as well of the global Caritas Internationalis confederation.
Armenian Caritas is a not-for-profit social welfare and humanitarian relief organisation based in Armenia. It is a service of the Armenian Catholic Church and a member of both Caritas Europa and Caritas Internationalis.
