Metropolitan Arseniy of Kuopio and Karelia appointed a new rector of the Novo-Valaam Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery in Finland. Archimandrite Michael (Nummela) studied economics and theology. In addition to Finnish, he speaks another 10 foreign languages, according to Sedmitsa.
Archimandrite Michael (Nummela) is 47 years old, he has been in the brethren of the monastery since 2013. The new abbot of the monastery says that the desire to become a monk must have been born when he was only eight years old, and he first visited the New Valaam Monastery.
New Valaam is the only Orthodox monastery in Finland, and nearby, in Lintula, is the only Orthodox convent in the country. Both monasteries are located in the province of Heinävesi, Eastern Finland, and belong to the jurisdiction of the autonomous Finnish Orthodox Church, which is part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
In the New Valaam Monastery in Finland today there are 11 novices and monks, whose average age is much less than 50 years. The youngest is 23 years old. Every summer the monastery is visited by about 160,000 tourists.