Almost 900 evangelical leaders from 45 countries gathered in Wisla, Poland, for the 2026 edition of the European Leadership Forum. A summary of the key messages heard during the week-long evangelical gathering.

The Finnish politician has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights after the Finnish Supreme Court ruled that the booklet Man and Woman He Created Them, published in 2004, breached legislation on hate speech against homosexuals.

The entity criticises the ruling by the Finnish Supreme Court, which acquitted Räsänen of charges relating to her social media posts of 2019 but convicted her of keeping accessible a text published two decades ago.

The Finnish prosecutor would have condemned Jesus when, in John 8:11, he said to the woman caught in adultery, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and sin no more”.

A shocking court ruling will cause Christian defenders of Trump to say “See, everything we say about Europe is right”.

The Supreme Court’s conviction of the Finnish politician and doctor could set a “troubling precedent for freedom of expression and religion across Europe”, says the European Evangelical Alliance.

Finland’s Supreme Court has ruled by three votes to two that a booklet on human sexuality published 22 years ago constitutes hate speech against LGBT people. The Christian politician is “profoundly disappointed” but her case may be brought to the European Court of Justice.

The Supreme Court held a rare oral hearing without asking the Finnish politician any questions. “This is a battle that must be fought to the end”, said Räsänen after the hearing.

Finnish Christian politician, Päivi Räsänen, is about to face her final trial for her writings on Biblical marriage. “I pray the hearing could open up opportunities to present the Gospel”, she says.

The Supreme Court has summoned Päivi Räsänen to appear on 30 October. In a six-year-long case, two courts had already ruled that the former Finnish interior minister's views on the Bible cannot be considered hate speech against homosexuals.

We spoke in Berlin with Päivi Räsänen, the Finnish parliamentarian awaiting the outcome of a trial for publicly expressing her Christian beliefs. “I see a real threat to freedom. That’s why I always encourage Christians to make use of the rights we still have: freedom of speech, freedom of religion”.

The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe reports at least 2,444 anti-Christian hate crimes in 35 European countries in 2023.

From the beginning, I deeply felt that the entire process was in God’s hands and had a purpose. I have considered this fight my calling.

The Christian politician has won in two lower courts the right to express her Christian beliefs on homosexuality, but the public prosecutor hopes to win in Finland’s top court.

The Christian parliamentarian will again defend that expressing her biblical understanding of marriage and homosexuality is a matter of freedom of speech. “I have a peaceful mind”.

Does the friendly image of the member of the Parliament hide an ultra-conservative woman full of hatred?

“I am grateful to God. It is a privilege to defend freedom of speech”, the Christian politician says after an unanimous decision of the three judges.

It is amazing that a doctor and member of the parliament is now one of the most visible evangelists in Finland.

Dragging an individual through a grueling criminal trial simply for expressing their religious beliefs is the opposite of what characterizes a free society.

Judges to give a verdict by November 30th. Prosecutors asked a 120-day fine for Räsänen and argued her interpretation and post of Bible verses was “criminal”.

The Christian community as a whole needs to awaken to the intensity and pace at which secular intolerance is progressing.

In Finland, the Christian Democrats are key to the negotiations for a new government. Päivi Räsänen (“thankful and happy” about her re-election) tells Evangelical Focus about the current socio-political moment.

It is the third European country to pass such a law in less than two months.

Watch a 12-minute-long in-depth report made by the Finnish National Television (with English subtitles).

Watch this 12-minute-long in-depth report made by the Finnish National Television.