 Unlike his predecessor, Salmi welcomed the female priesthood and the first female priests of the Oulu Diocese were ordained in his first priestly ordination as bishop.Salmi was the first bishop who was appointed by the Church council rather than the Finnish government as a result of the new constitution that came into force on 1 March 2000 that established a separation between the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and the state.Salmi was one of the candidates nominated for Archbishop of Turku in 2010 and received the fifth highest number of votes.