Paulus Petri Juusten (Finnish: Paavali Juusten, Swedish: Paul (Påvel) Pedersson Juusten; ca. 1516/1520 – 22 August 1575) was the first Bishop of Viipuri, and later, Bishop of Turku. He was an esteemed teacher and a Swedish royal envoy.

The Right Reverend

Paulus Juusten
Bishop of Turku
ChurchChurch of Sweden
DioceseTurku
In office1563–1575
PredecessorPetrus Follingius
SuccessorEricus Erici Sorolainen
Previous post(s)Bishop of Vyborg (1554–1563)
Orders
Ordination1540
by Martti Skytte
Consecration1554
by Botvid Sunesson
Personal details
Born1516
Vyborg, Sweden (Present-day Russia)
Died22 August 1575
Turku, Sweden (Present-day Finland)
NationalityFinnish
DenominationLutheran

Early life

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Paavali, as he was known before his ecclesiastical career, was initially schooled at the Viborg School of Latin. His parents, burgher Pietari Juusten and his wife Anna, owned their townhouse near the Blackfriars' monastery at Viborg. The street bore the name Juusteninkatu until the town centuries later was ceded to the Soviet Union. His parents seemingly died in ca. 1530 due to the plague. The orphan Paavali was sent to Turku, to study 1534–1536 at the Turku school. He was recruited to lecture as an assistant to the head teacher, bishop Martti Skytte. The bishop ordained Paulus as a priest in 1540, before he turned 24 that was the regularly required age for ordination.

Religious career

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Juusten was acting headmaster of the Viborg school 1541–1543, after which the bishop sent him to Germany, to study in several universities. He succeeded Mikael Agricola as headmaster of Turku cathedral school in 1548. He was member of the diocese chapter in 1553 and in 1554. In 1554 he was appointed as the inaugural bishop of Viborg, a new diocese. He was consecrated as bishop by Botvid Sunesson, bishop of Strengnes, a carrier of the apostolic succession. In 1563 he succeeded as bishop of Turku. The king sent bishop Juusten as ambassador to Russia in 1569, where tsar Ivan IV the Terrible kept him as a prisoner for over two years. Some sources claim that he received ennoblement from the king after his return in c. 1573. The year he died, Paulus consecrated Laurentius Petri Gothus as archbishop of Uppsala. He was buried at the Cathedral of Turku.[1]

Author

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Juusten authored the Finnish-language catechism (1574), the tale of his Moscow travel, a Mass book (1575) and the Chronicle of Finnish bishops, Suomen piispainkronikka, Chronicon episcoporum finlandensium.

References

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  1. ^ Gillingstam, Hans. "Paulus Justen", Swedish Biographical Dictionary. Retrieved on 03 April 2019.
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Religious titles
Preceded by Bishop of Turku
1563 – 1575
Succeeded by