In his sermon on January 14, 1979, the Rev. Juozas Indriūnas, Assistant Pastor of the Church of the Resurrection in Kaunas, brought to light a series of facts about certain immoral instructors at schools of higher learning who forcibly corrupt women students and thereby damage the youth of Lithuania. A female student who wishes to receive credit for a course is forced to become the victim of her depraved instructor.
At present, the only means of fighting against the degree-holding grave-diggers of our youth's morals who are armed with Party cards and backed by the government is to speak out in public. Father Indriūnas therefore mentioned the names of Professor T. Šiurkus, Instructor Ž. Dagis and others in the hope of stopping this crippling of young people.
After the sermon, the administration of the Kaunas Medical Institute and the KGB began to buzz like hornets. They demanded through the Kaunas Archdiocesan Chancery that Father Indriūnas withdraw the "slander", or face court charges. The priest was not intimidated and did not recant his words. The KGB is currently drawing up an indictment against the Rev. Juozas Indriūnas.
Disturbed over the fate of their beloved priest, the faithful of Kaunas have sent a series of statements to various government agencies. We reprint one of them, signed by 300 of the faithful:
To: The Chairman of the Kaunas City Executive Committee.
We were extremely incensed when we heard that the administration of the Kaunas Medical Institute, through the Kaunas Chancery wants to force Father Indriūnas to recant the so-called "lie" about the circumstances surrounding the death of Professor T. Šiurkus. The people of Kaunas are well aware of the circumstances surrounding the death of Professor Šiurkus. Your attempt to conceal this generally known fact casts a long shadow over you and causes the people to lose confidence in your agencies.
Our schools of higher education abound with such deplorably notorious facts, but servile fear prevents our student population from confirming them. Wishing to graduate at any cost, young women hide from society the insolent and immoral behavior of instructors during exams or only tell their closest family members, pleading with them not to tell anyone.
We can no longer remain silent! We, who are concerned about our Nation's future, protest this attempt to deny the facts that were brought to light. You will not save the school's reputation with such tactics, you will merely further encourage evil. The instructors' immoral behavior must be condemned by society and it is essential that all possible measures be taken to investigate such offenses.
We suggest that a commission be formed from the appropriate agencies and representatives of society and thoroughly investigate similar incidents and put a final stop to this evil.
People of Kaunas (300 signatures)
