On September 9 in the Cathedral of the Church of Ingria in St. Petersburg was held a ceremonial event: Mr. Victor Pajunen from Sweden gave back to the Church of Ingria the glass Sacrament Cup that once belonged to the parish of Venyoki (the main Church building of this parish was in Pavlovsk).

Bishop Arri Kugappi accepted the Cup with gratitude and said that it would remain in the Cathedral of the ELCI.

The parish of Venyoki, founded in 1641, was at one time one of the largest parishes of the Church of Ingria. In 1937, the parish was closed, and the last pastor, Pekka Brax, who served in the parish, was shot. His family fled to Sweden, taking with them the Sacrament Cup.

In his speech of gratitude, Bishop Kugappi said that in the recent years the Church of Ingria returned also other things belonging to her-in particular, the old Bible translated by Michael Agricola. Only one Bible of the 40 such Bibles, that were once at the disposal of the Church of Ingria, from the parish in Hietamaki, was survived. In the Cathedral you can see also the portrait of Selim Yalmari Laurikkala, which was also brought from Sweden.

text, photo: Liliann Keskinen