Finland's youth minister overrode officials to give two Christian groups youth grants, one linked to his own congregation; a civil servant dissented.

In March 2026, Minister of Youth, Sport and Physical Activity Mika Poutala (Christian Democrats) granted EUR 11,500 each to Iso Kirja and the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission (SEKL) in youth-organization grants, although ministry officials had not proposed funding for either because they did not meet the general grant conditions, according to Yle. He also removed a cap officials had applied limiting year-on-year changes to EUR 10,000; five other organizations lost proposed grants.