Lately, burglaries of churches have grown more frequent. In Kaunas alone this fall, the churches of Saint Anthony and Panemunė were burglarized; burglaries occurred in the churches of Dūkštas, Švenčionėliai and Braziūkai. An attempt was made to burglarize the church of Šančiai, but the culprits were caught at the scene of the crime.
It is difficult to know what barometer these waves of sacrilege follow. But one thing is clear: These are not exceptions or anomalies, but part of a criminal chain. What is it: Satanism, the recreation of bored macho young men or consciously malicious activity? If the first two causes predominate, then it would not be very difficult to abolish them. It would be enough for the forces of law and order to crack down, and order would be restored. But the organs of the militia do not look for this type of criminal very seriously, and the courts let them off easily, so it is with some reason that one comes to the entirely logical conclusion that in this case, it is the third cause which holds, namely, consciously malicious activity.
Tūbausiai (Kretinga Rayon)
On the night of October 10-11, 1985, vandals broke into the church of Tūbausiai and desecrated the Blessed Sacrament. They tore open the tabernacle door and found the safe which they could not open, where the Blessed Sacrament was kept. The vandals tore out the tabernacle with the safe and took it with them. The culprits have not been found.
Kaunatava (Telšiai Rayon)
On the night of October 13-14, 1985, vandals broke into the church of Kaunatava. After rooting around the sacristy and tossing liturgical vestments about, they found the tabernacle key and desecrated the Blessed Sacrament, taking out the consecrated hosts, crumbling them and scattering the fragments about the church. On November 24, the Feast of Christ the King, services of reparation took place in the church of Kaunatava, presided over by the pastor, Father Vytautas Kadys. Participating in the services were the priests of the Cathedral of Telšiai, Fathers Vincentas Vėlavičius and Jonas Buče lis. As a symbol of contrition, all three priests and a large crowd of the faithful went from the main door to the altar on their knees. A sermon was preached by Father Buče lis.
Lenkimai (Skuodas Rayon)
At the end of October, 1985, small statues of saints were stolen from the Lenkimai churchyard. There has been no word that the authorities have been seriously looking for the culprits.
Lieplaukė (Telšiai Rayon)
During the night of October 31 - November 1, two small statues of the saints were stolen from shrines in the Lieplaukė churchyard, and the shrine of Saint George from the city square, which is listed as a monument protected by the state, was vandalized. There is no word that the authorities have been seriously looking for the culprits.
