Fr. Vili Lehtoranta

In November 2025, I published my memoirs, titled Blessings and Crosses: My Path from Finland to Becoming a Sedevacantist Priest. In the book I recount my life story, how I went from a nominally Protestant family background to convert to the Catholic Faith, and later moved to live in the USA working as a Traditional Catholic priest.

​

The book is divided into three parts. First, I give a summary about the history of Finland as a nation. My home country has greatly affected who I am. Finland has a particularly difficult history between two big nations, Sweden and Russia, and therefore Finns have had to learn to cope amid poverty and wars.

​

The second part of the book follows my childhood and youth. I give my family background, and how I grew up in a modest working-class area in Turku, Finland. I also write about my time in school, what I liked to read, and about the culture of Finland as I learned to love it.

​

The third part presents my conversion story and how I ended up being a priest. I first became a member of the Novus Ordo and then, through the writings of Father Anthony Cekada, found the true Catholic faith and the true Mass. He also encouraged me to apply to study the priesthood at Most Holy Trinity Seminary, and I was eventually ordained a priest on November 16, 2011, by Bishop Daniel Dolan. Since that I have worked as a priest at Saint Gertrude the Great Roman Catholic Church and as a teacher in the parish school.

 

In my memoirs I recount the many joys I have encountered in my years of priesthood: the true faith and teaching it to the faithful, among other things. But I also speak about the sorrows and crosses the priesthood has brought: separation from my family, splits and fall-outs, the deaths of Father Cekada and Bishop Dolan, and so on.

​

The book will be published by Glorious Heritage Books, a family business which produces Traditional Catholic books, cartoons and educational supplements that showcase our glorious Catholic heritage.

​

Buy my book on Glorious Heritage
Buy my book on Amazon
Glorious Heritage Books Patreon