RŪDIŠKĖS
Father Konstantinas Molis was preparing children for their first confession and First Communion. On May 27, 1973, a committee of six persons came to the church in Rūdiškės, where about fifty children had gathered. The members of the committee were very polite; they merely listened and waited in church for the end of the proceedings. When the priest, having finished with his explanation, dismissed the children, the members of the committee approached the parents. They asked why their children had assembled here. They wrote down the names of the parents and their addresses.
After several days, the Procurator of Trakai Rayon summoned many of the children and also Father Molis. During his interrogation, the priest admitted that he had been teaching the children. He said his conscience and his sense of priestly duties had compelled him to do so.
The people became frightened and addressed a petition to the Procurator of Trakai Rayon, which was signed by twenty persons. The petition pointed out that Father Molis was completely innocent because the parents had asked him to teach their children.
On June 28, 1973, the administrative commission of the Trakai Rayon Executive Committee ordered Father Molis to pay a fine of thirty rubles. All the committee members were polite and said little. The presiding officer asked Father Molis whether he felt that he had committed an offense. The priest did not reply. After a minute of silence, the presiding officer continued, "According to international law, you are not guilty, but according to our instructions— guilty. Since after our warning you no longer taught children, since you have not been punished previously for such incidents, and since you promise not to teach in the future, and also taking other factors into consideration, your fine will be only thirty rubles."
The administrative commission did not give the accused a copy of its verdict but merely ordered him to go to the bank and pay the sum of thirty rubles. The bank clerks would accept the money anyway.
