Finnish theologian forced to depart U.S.

PASADENA, Calif. — A renowned Finnish theologian and tenured professor at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., has been forced to leave the United States because he did not qualify under new visa regulations that apply to religious professionals.

In what may be one of the stranger cases of stricter visa regulations in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Veli-Matti Karkkainen was unable to appeal government decisions that denied him an extension of a visa and a work permit, prompting a July 31 deadline for him, his wife and two daughters to leave the United States.

The case of Karkkainen, first reported in the July 27 issue of Christian Century magazine, is ironic in part because the order to leave the United States affects a man who, like Attorney General John Ashcroft, is a Pentecostal.

Howard Louwen, a Fuller dean, said new, complicated rules for visas for religious professionals appear to be the cause of the problem.

Also a factor, he said, were new rules under which a seminary is strictly defined as an institution with ties to a single denominational body.