In an interview given to YLE, Kiviniemi said the issue was a matter for discussion in negotiations to form the next government after parliamentary elections in 2011.

The Prime Minister said the church should not give up the solemnization of marriages even if a change in the law was enacted.

“I consider it very important for marriages to be performed in church despite any future legislative change,” she emphasized.

Recently, the Bishop of Helsinki, Eero Huovinen, deliberated whether the Evangelical Lutheran Church should relinquish its right to marry people if the law on marriage became gender-neutral.