The Catholic World Report: Timo Soini is an interesting and somewhat unusual figure in Finland’s political establishment: a Catholic who is not hiding his Catholic faith while living in a highly secularized society, nor mincing his words whenever he needs to uphold “non-negotiable values” relating to family, marriage, and life.
Soini is the driving force behind the exceptional surge of the Perussuomalaiset party (in English, the “Finns Party” or “True Finn Party”), which he has led since 1997. During the last general elections in April 2011, the Perussuomalaiset party won 39 seats (19.1%), a dramatic increase from their previous five. The party’s platform is based on “the right” of all members of society “to a life of human dignity”, as expressed in the English resume of the parliament’s official website. More on this here.
