MOLĖTAI RAYON
On June 8, 1972, the faithful from the parish in Stirniai, located in Molėtai Rayon, sent a petition to the Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers concerning discrimination against believers (see the Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, no. 2).
In May, Rugienis summoned the pastor of the church in Molėtai, the Rev. Jonas Zubrus, and reprimanded him, charging that he had organized this petition from the faithful. Shortly thereafter, Rugienis ordered Father Zubrus to be appointed pastor of the parish in Dubingiai.
In the middle of May, a reply from Moscow concerning the complaint by the faithful arrived at the address of [Miss] V. Šapkauskaitė:
"Your petition addressed to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was reviewed by the Council for Religious Affairs.
"We hereby clarify that the Rev. A. Šeškevičius works at the church in Šilalė; individuals wishing to enter the theological seminary may realize their wish in accordance with the admission regulations established by the seminary.
"Regarding the demand 'not to interfere when priests teach religious truths to children in church,' this is contrary to our laws, just as is the demand to release the priests who had been sentenced for gross violations of the laws concerning religious cults."
The reply was signed by E. Tarasov, a member of the Council.
Immediately upon arriving at the parish in Dubingiai, Father Zubrus was summoned by the Molėtai Rayon Executive Committee. Four officials accused him of not complying with Soviet laws, of engaging in charitable works, of giving children religious books to read, and of conducting retreats without receiving permission from the authorities. Father Zubrus was informed that he would not be allowed to register in Dubingiai.
After a few days, orders from the Kaišiadorys Curia arrived assigning Father Zubrus to the position of curate at the parish in Širvintos, although formerly no curates were assigned to this parish. Meanwhile, the parish of Dubingiai was preparing to remain without a permanent pastor, for it would only be served by priests from a neighboring parish.
KAUNAS
On June 23 of this year, [Miss] Jadvyga Stanelytė was called to the office of the Security Committee in Kaunas. A year earlier, her purse containing the book Visi mes broliai [We are all brothers] had disappeared. Stanelytė was interrogated about where she had obtained that book and who had organized the memorandum.
Then they took her back to her apartment and, without presenting a warrant, searched it. During the search the following were taken: A. Maceina's Bažnyčia ir pasaulis [The Church and the world], LKB Kronikos Nr. 1 [The chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, no. 1], The Chronicle, (in Russian), and a notebook.
On the following day she was summoned for interrogation. The interrogators were especially interested in who was reproducing books with the Era photocopying machine and where. J. Stanelytė explained that she did not know this.
Having found several addresses in her notebook, the security officials examined the books in the homes of [Miss] O. Sereikaitė and [Miss] S. Kelpšaitė.
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On June 29, two KGB officials visited the home of Dr. Mikšytė and looked through her books. Having found nothing of interest to them, they asked:
"Don't you have anything of yellow journalism?"
"What?"
"That which is forbidden by the Soviet government," explained the security officials.
The KGB officials continued to question her, asking whether Dr. Mikšytė had signed the memorandum, whether she had solicited signatures for it, and which priests visit her.
On July 14, documents were checked at several houses on Maironis Street. "We're checking on the sanctimonious-granny nests,' declared the persons who had been sent by the KGB.
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The self-immolation of the youth R. Kalanta on May 14, had apparently been mainly nationalistic in nature; however, during the demonstration, not only national but also religious slogans could be heard.
