Johannes Karhapää

Johannes Vasilinpoika Karhapää (or Ivan Vasilievich Karhapää, ; 13 July 1884 – 7 or 8 March 1918, ) was a Finnish Karelian teacher and an Eastern Orthodox missionary who was killed by the White Guards during the Finnish Civil War. He was canonized in 2018 as the Holy Martyr and Confessor John of Sonkajanranta.

Life Early life Karhapää was born in the Sonkajanranta village at the Nissinen homestead in Ilomantsi.

Activities as an enlightener During his childhood, he developed a strong Orthodox faith, and he participated in the activities of the local youth association of the Saints Sergius and Herman Brotherhood. At the turn of the century, the Sortavala Evangelical Society had initiated a fanatical campaign to convert Orthodox Christians to the Lutheran faith, and as a countermeasure, the Karelian Brotherhood was founded in Olonets in 1907, at the initiative of Hieromonk, future Vicar Bishop . The brotherhood quickly established dozens of Russian language schools in Karelia and published study materials for these schools. The schools became quite popular, partly due to social benefits offered to the student. The original purpose of the brotherhood was to engage itself in vigorous domestic mission work, but during the reign of Governor-general Franz Albert Seyn in 1909–1917, the Karelian Brotherhood was harnessed for the purposes of Russification of Karelia.

Karhapää also got worried about the growing Lutheran mission work in his home area, and in 1906, he approached Archbishop Sergius of Finland (later patriarch of Moscow) in a letter. He asked for help in defending Orthodoxy and expressed a wish to have a school in Sonkajanranta.

Karhapää's wife tried to obtain her husband's body, but she only succeeded after months had passed since his death. The body was identified from the stripes of the woollen socks. Karhapää was buried at the Kokonniemi cemetery in Ilomantsi, with a large group of people attending, including both Orthodox and Lutheran Christians. His liturgical canonization was held 12–13 July 2019 in Church of Anna the Prophetess in Sonkajanranta. His annual feast is 8 March.

Additional information A documentary film on Karhapää was aired by Yle in 2008, entitled “The Rise and Fall of an Orthodox Man”, directed by Mikko Keinonen. A book written by Liisa Pajukaarre was also due to appear the same year, but the publication was cancelled.

After the Independence of Finland, the Sonkajanranta school was given over to the local municipality. It burned down in the 1950s, and many items that had belonged to Karhapää were destroyed. The church of Anna the Prophetess is now one of the churches of the Joensuu Orthodox Parish.