A Finnish primary school has canceled a performance of Handel’s famous “Messiah” during the Advent season, seemingly over concerns that its religious content might offend some students. The concert was meant to take place at an unnamed school in Uusima and was to be performed by the Finnish Baroque Orchestra and the Helsinki Chamber Choir. The school has not revealed its direct reasons for the cancelation, but in 2022 a performance of the song in Hämeenlinna led to one student complaining about the song’s religious content. Finland’s National Non-Discrimination and Equality Tribunal ruled to compensate non-Christian pupils with 1,500 euros. However, on November 19 the Hämeenlinna Education and Welfare Committee voted 6-5 against compensation.

A number of political leaders announced their displeasure at the song’s removal. “Not like this!” stated Social Security Minister Sanni Grahn-Laasonen (Kok). “What kind of society is it where schoolchildren don’t get to hear a baroque concert and get to know cultural history?” asked Social Security Minister Sanni Grahn-Laasonen (Kok). He added that “such oversensitivity does not protect rights, but limits opportunities.” European Parliament member Mika Aaltola called it “a joke.” “Did we think about giving up our cultural heritage in education and schools?” Laura Kajander, executive director of the Baroque Orchestra, stated the decision only hurts the children. “If concerts are cancelled, it is the children who suffer,” said Kajander.

According to CBN, 65 percent of Finns identify as Christian, with 32 percent falling into the “nones” category, or those who don’t identify with any particular religious belief. The country has two official state-sponsored churches: the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and the Orthodox Church of Finland. Church attendance in the country, however, remains low, with anywhere from four percent to 14 percent attending a church service at least once monthly while 10 percent to 24 percent do not attend at all. Membership within the church remains a cultural duty rather than any actual religious practice, with only around 25 percent believing in God in the way the church taught about him. Teemu Laajasalo, bishop of the Diocese of Helsinki warned against the loss of God and the loss of the country’s identity. “Christian traits cannot be cleansed from our environment,” he wrote.

“Even if art were banned, cleaning our environment from the traces of Christianity would require quite a few changes: we live in 2024, there are seven days in our week, and double wages are paid on the seventh day of rest. All of these have their history.”