Bjarne Kallis, the chairman of the Finnish Christian Democrats' parliamentary group, was quoted as saying by regional daily Aamulehti on Sunday that the Finnish Evangelical-Lutheran Church should give up its power of legal solemnisation if a same-sex marriage bill was passed into law.

"Personally I feel that this option would be good, but I do not know what the parishes, for example, think about this," Kallis told the Finnish News Agency on Sunday.

He added that it would be up to the church to decide whether to marry same-sex couples following legally valid ceremonies carried out by government register offices.

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LEHTIKUVA - JUSSI NUKARI