Read this and pass it on! Appearing since March 19, 1972
CHRONICLE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN LITHUANIA No. 52 
In this Issue:
1. Blackmail of Bishop Julijonas Steponavičius
2. The Trial of Father Leonas Mažeika's Killers
3. The Persecution of Father Kastytis Jonas Matulionis
4. The trial of Father Antanas Gražulis
6. Letters from the Clergy and Faithful of Lithuania
7. The End Justifies the Means
8. The Catholic Committee for the Defense of Believers' Rights
9. Religious Feasts in Lithuania
Lithuania......................... March 25, 1982
On the Cover: Bishop Julijonas Steponavičius, appointed as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Panevėžys and the Archdiocese of Vilnius by the Vatican in 1958. In 1961, he was arrested by Soviet authorities and exiled to Žagarė, located outside his two dioceses, thus preventing him from exercising his duties to this day.
CHRONICLE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN LITHUANIA No. 52
A Translation of the Complete Lithuanian Original LIETUVOS KATALIKŲ BAŽNYČIOS KRONIKA Nr. 52 Documenting the Struggle for Human Rights In Soviet-Occupied Lithuania Today
Translated by: Vita Matusaitis
Translation Editor: Rev. Casimir Pugeviččius
Copy Editor: Marian Skabeikis
Published by the Lithuanian R.C. Priests' League of America 351 Highland Blvd. Brooklyn, NY 11207
©Lithuanian Roman Catholic Priests' League of America 1982
ISSN 0197-0348
The publication of this translation has been sponsored by The Lithuanian National Foundation — Canada
Franciscan Fathers Press 341 Highland Blvd. Brooklyn, NY 11207
CHRONICLE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN LITHUANIA, No. 52
Introduction
In 1940, when the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania by force, 85.5% of the country's more than 3 million inhabitants were Roman Catholic, 4.5% Protestant, 7.3% Jewish, 2.5% Orthodox and 0.2% of other persuasions.
In the two archdioceses and four dioceses were: 708 churches, 314 chapels, 73 monasteries, 85 convents, three archbishops, nine bishops, 1271 diocesan priests, 580 monks, of whom 168 were priests. Four seminaries had 470 students. There were 950 nuns.
Nuns caied for 35 kindergartens, 10 orphanages, 25 homes for the aged, two hospitals, a youth center, and an institute for the deaf-mute.
On June 15, 1940, the Red Army marched into Lithuania; the independent government was replaced by a puppet regime.
On July 14-15, rigged elections were staged. On July 21, with the Red Army surrounding the assembly house, the new People's Diet "unanimously" declared Lithuania a Soviet Socialist Republic.
On June 25, 1940, the Church was declared separate from the state, and the representative of the Holy See was expelled.
Parish lands were confiscated, clergy salaries and pensions were cut off, and their savings confiscated. Churches were deprived of support. Catholic printing plants were confiscated, and religious books destroyed.
On June 28, 1940, the teaching of religion and recitation of prayers in schools was forbidden. The University's Department of Theology and Philosophy was abolished, and all private schools were nationalized. The seminaries at Vilkaviškis and Telšiai were closed, and the seminary at Kaunas was permitted to operate on a very limited scale. The clergy were spied upon constantly.
On June 15, 1941, 34,260 Lithuanians were packed off in cattle-cars to undisclosed points in the Soviet Union. After World War II, the mass deportations resumed and continued until 1953.
Vincentas Borisevičius, Bishop of Telšiai, was arrested on February 3, 1946, and condemned to death after a secret trial. Before year's end, his auxiliary, Bishop Pranas Ramanauskas, was also arrested and deported to Siberia. Bishop Teofilius Matulionis of Kaišiadorys and Archbishop Mečislovas Reinys of Vilnius were deported io a Siberian labor camp. Archbishop Reinys perished in prison at Vladimir, November 8, 1953. By 1947, Lithuania was left with a single bishop, Kazimieras Paltarokas, of Panevėžys. He died in 1958.
In 1947, the last convents and monasteries were closed, their communities dispersed, and all monastic institutions were outlawed.
After Stalin's death in 1953, there was a slight improvement in the religious situation. Bishops Matulionis and Ramanauskas were allowed to return to Lithuania, but not to minister to their dioceses or to communicate with the clergy or laity.
Bishop Ramanauskas died in 1959, and Archbishop Matulionis in 1963.
In 1955, two new bishops were appointed by Rome and con-ecrated: Julijonas Steponavičius and Petras Maželis. Steponavičius has never been permitted to administer his diocese.
Bishop Vincentas Sladkevičius, consecrated in 1957, was kept under severe government restrictions until 1982. In 1965, Monsignor Juozas Labukas-Matulaitis was consecrated in Rome to head the Archdiocese of Kaunas and the Diocese of Vilkaviškis. Two new bishops were consecrated in 1969: Bishop Romualdas Krikščiūnas was appointed apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Panevėžys, and Bishop Liudvikas Povilonis was appointed auxiliary to Bishop Labukas, and succeeded him after his death in 1979.
In 1982, Bishop Sladkevičius was permitted to return to his diocese as Apostolic Administrator of Kaišiadorys. Father Antanas Vaičius was named bishop and Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Telšiai and the Prelature of Klaipėda.
Relaxation of pressure on religious believers soon revealed that 'he Lithuanian people were still deeply religious. It was decided in the mid-fifties to resume the attack. The principal means of attack would be unlimited moral pressure, since physical terror seemed only to strengthen and unify the faithful.
In 1972, the Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, clandestinely published in that country, began to reach the free world at irregular intervals. Primarily intended to keep Catholics in Lithuania informed of the situation of the Church there, these Lithuanian samizdat also serve as a constant appeal to the free world not to forget the plight of a people struggling against overwhelming odds to defend their religious beliefs and to regain their basic human rights.
Rev. Casimir Pugevičius Translation Editor
INDEX OF PERSONS
Abraitis, Kostas, 10 Adomaitienė, (Mrs.), 57 Alekaitė, Marytė, 17 Andreika, Algimantas, U Angarietis, Z., 50, 51 Anilionis, Petras, 5, 39, 44, 47 Arbačiauskas, 17 Arlauskas, Father Klemensas, 44 Aužbikavičius, Julius (Julijonas), 30
Bakučionis, 13 Balionas, Father Feliksas, 45 Baltramiejūnienė, (Mrs.), 7, 8, 9 Baltuška, Father Petras, 33 Banienė, (Mrs.), 51 Baranauskaitė, Irena, 56 Baranauskienė, Albina, 56 Barauskas, 44 Barzdžiūkienė, V. (Mrs.), 27 Belickaitė, Danguolė, 55 Beniušis, Father Antanas, 44 Bertašius, Petras, 46 Biekša, 41 Biekšienė, (Mrs.), 41 Bieliauskienė, Nijolė, 49, 50 Bitinaitė, (Miss), 56 Bliūdžiuvienė, (Mrs.), 51 Bočiulis, 28 Bogušauskas, P. Borisevičius, Bishop Vincentas, 1 Brezhnev, Leonid, 36, 39 Bružaitė, Judita, 48 Bučinskas, Father Jonas, 23, 24, 37 Būdvytienė, (Mrs.), 51 Burkutė, Genė, 18 Burkutė, Stasė, 18, 19 Butkienė, (Mrs.), 45 Butkus, 22
Casaroli, Cardinal, 5 Čereškevičius, 50 Černiauskas, Father Bičardas, 36 Česnas, Antanas, 21
Dainauskaitė, (Miss), 23 Danyla, Father Jonas, S.J., 36 Daugėlienė, (Mrs.), 57 Dilienė, Milda, 55, 56 Dirvonskis, J., 53, 54 Dobrauskienė, (Mrs.). 52 Donelaitis, Kristijonas, 53
Eitutienė, (Mrs.) 56
Gabartaitė, (Miss), 51 Gajauskas, Balys, 58 Giedra, Father Domininkas, 44 Gluosnys, Vytautas, 53 Granickas, 17 Gražulis, Father Antanas, 3, 14-16, 46 Grigas, Bobertas, 11, 45 Grimaila, Zigmas, 21 Griška, 34 Griškevičius, Petras, 10, 13 14, 19, 37, 52 Gudanavičius, Father Gustavas, 25, 26 Gutauskas, Father Algirdas, 5 Gylys, 52
Iešmantas, Gintautas, 58 Ignotas, M., 7 Ilinars. 8, 9
Jablonskis, 56 Jakovlev, 19 Jakubonytė, Stasė, 18 Janulis, Anastazas, 58 Jasienė, (Mrs.) 25, 26, 27 Jauniškis, Bronius, 30-36 Jucikas, Sigitas, 49 Jurevičius, Mečislovas, 11, 58 Jurkonienė, Aldona. 55 Juška, 55
Katkevičiūtė, Sofija, 31 Kairienė, (Mrs.), 51 Kairys, Algis, 51 Kalakauskas, 46 Kalvaitytė, Eugenija, 18 Kasiulienė, (Mrs.), 7 Kazakevičius, Liutauras, 11 Kazlauskas, Adolfas, 7, 8, 9 Kazys, 45 Keidošytė (Miss) 56 Khrushchev, 38 Kipas, 31, 32 Klimas, 21 Kojutytė, Teresė, 56 Kontrimas, 40 Kovalev, Sergei, 58 Kleivinis, 23
Krikščiukaitis, Father Kastytis, 40, 41 Krikščiūnas, Romualdas, 2,5 Krištokaitis, Konstantinas, 57 Kringelis, Edmundas, 22 Kručaitė, (Miss), 7, 9 Krumpiiauskas, Father Stanislovas, 17, 28 Kukta, Jonas, 33 Kuncevičiūtė, Magdalena, 17, 18, 36 Kuroyedov, 38, 39 Kuzmickaitė, Zina, 19 Kuzmickas, Stasys, 19
Labanauskas, 25, 26 Labukas-Matulaitis, Bishop Juozas, 2 Laurinavičius, Father Bronius, 57 Laurinčiukas, Feliksas, 47 Laužeckas, Mečislovas, 45 Lenin, 15 Lisauskas, 55 Liubinienė, (Mrs.), 51 LiukinevičiOtė, Regina, 18 I .iutvinaitė, Reda, 51 Lukšienė, Virginija, 55 Lunius, K., 27 Lybikis, Edvardas, 22
Mačiulaitis, V., 22 Mačiulienė, (Mrs.), 51 Mačiulytė, Rima, 51 Maksvytienė, Kazė, 52 Malskienė, (Mrs.), 51 Malskis, 51 Margelienė, Janina, 43 Markauskas, Zenonas, 8 Martinaitytė, Teklė, 7, 8, 9 Matulevičius, Jurgis, 57 Matulionis, Father Kastytis Jonas, 3, 10-14 Matulionis, Bishop Teofilius, 1, 2 Matusevičienė, (Mrs.), 51 Mažeika, Father Leonas, 3, 7-10 Maželis, Bishop Petras, 2 Merkevičiūtė, Vida, 53, 54 Mesonis, 7, 9 Micka, Arūnas, 43 Mikolojūnienė, (Mrs.), 56 Mikulis, Petras, 49 Misiūnas, Juozas, 30-35 Misiūnienė, Sofija, 31, 33 Misiūnienė, Vanda, 49, 50 Misiūnas, Petras, 49 Mišutis, 34 Mockus, 22 Mockuvienė, S., (Mrs.), 10 Montvila, Father Kazimieras, 46 Mordosaitė, (Miss) 57 Motiejūnienė, Stanislova, 8
Narušis, 21 Navickaitė, Genė, 18, 58 Navickas, Father, Zenonas, 14 Navickienė, Marytė, 18 Nemunas, 42 Norkūnas, 48 Norvilą, Juozas, 21
Paldauskas, B., 27 Paltarokas, Bishop Kazimieras, 2 Pamemeckas, 7 Paškauskas, 46 Paškevičienė, (Mrs.), 56 Paulaitis, Petras, 58 Paulionis, Father Edmundas, 50 Paušinas. 51 Pečeliūnas, Povilas, 58 Pečiukaitienė, (Mrs.), 51 Pečiukaitis, 51 Petkus, Viktoras, 58 Plečkaitienė, (Mrs.) 56 Pleterytė, Emilija, 45, 46, 52 Plioraitis, Father Ignas, 43, 52 Pliuščiauskienė, (Mrs.), 23 Pope John Paul II, 12 Pope Pius XII, 4 Povilonis, Bishop Liudvikas, 2, 5, 18 Puzaras, Father, 45
Rakauskas, 42 Ramanauskaitė, Laima, 52 Ramanauskas, Bishop Pranas, 1, 2 Rapalienė, Kleopatra, 44 Razmantas, Father Juozapas, 23, 24, 37 Rekašius, V., 28 Reinys, Bishop Mečislovas, 1 Rėklairytė, Ona, 19 Remeikis, Jonas, 22 Rickevičius, Gediminas, 11 Rubinas, 49 Rudzevičius, 34 Ruvelis, Antanas, 48 Rytmeisteris, Juozas, 33
Sabalius, 43 Sadauskas, 23 Sadeckas, 52 Sadūnaitė, Nijolė, 18, 47 Šakalienė, Genė, 46 Šakalys, Vladas, 46 Sakavičius, Gintas, 52 Sakavičius, Vitas, 52 Šalkauskaitė, Genovaitė, 48 Šarakauskaitė, Ona, 52 Šarakauskaitė, Zita, 52 Sasnauskaitė, Eleonora, 11 Sasnauskas, Julius, 58 Saukaitis, Juozas. 57 St. Sebastian, 35 Ščeponavičienė, (Mrs.), 23 Semėnas, V., 27 Šeržentienė, (Mrs.) 49 Šeškauskas, 56 Skardžiutė, I. (Miss), 27 Skazhkin, 35 Skeiveris, A. 21 Skiparis, Father Vytautas, 14, 29, 30, 47 Skuodis, 22 Skuodis, Vytautas, 58 Sladkevičius, Bishop Vincentas, 2, 5, 6 Šlapelis, Father Bronius, 42 Smičius, 7 Songaila, 44 Songailienė, (Mrs.), 51 Stalin, 2 Stankaitis, 34 Stanelytė, Jadvyga, 57 Stankaitis, 34 Stankutė, Alina, 48 Starkus, 47 Staškevičius, Alfonsas, 21 Statkevičius, Algis, 11, 58 Steponavičius, Bishop Julijonas, 2, 3, 4-7 Stikleris, 34 Štombergas, 29, 30 Strakauskaitė, A., (Miss), 53, 54 Strazdas, 42 Subačius, Kęstutis, 11 Stuikienė, (Mrs.), 49 Stulpinaitė, Vilhelmina, 48 Šturna, Arvydas, 51 Šturnienė, (Mrs.), 51 Sukackas, Andrius, 52 Šulskis, Father P. 17, 18, 56 Svarinskas, Father Alfonsas, 6, 20, 45
Tamkevičius, Father Sigitas. 10. 11, 17, 18 Terleckas, 11, 58 Tičkus, E., 55 Tumėnas, Kazimieras, 6 Tunairytė, Onutė, 56 Tutinaitė, Roma, 55
Urbonas, 10, 11, 12, 54 Urbutis, Petras, 21 Uždavinys, Antanas, 41 Vaičiūnas, Vytautas, 58 Vainius, Father Antanas, 2, 29
Vaitkevičienė, (Mrs.), 51 Valaitienė, (Mrs.), 51 Vanagas, 43 V'erbyla, 56 Viliūnaitis, 7 Vitkauskaitė, Ona, 18 Volungevičius, Jonas, 11 Vyšniauskienė, (Mrs.), 51 Vytautas the Great, 57
Žalius, A. 40 Žarskis, 46 Zdanavičienė, (Mrs.), 57 Zdanavičius, 57 Žeberskis, B., 7, 9 Želvytė, (Miss), 56 Žikaris, 23 Zotovas, 51 Zotovienė, (Mrs.), 51 Zubrus, Father Jonas, 45 Žukauskas, 46
INDEX OF PLACES
Akmenė, 48, 49
Alsėdžiai, 48
Alytus, 17
Antalieptė, 31,32
Ariogala, 44
Bijutiškis, 30, 36
Čiulėnai, 55
Daugailiai, 33
Domantai, 49
Dūkštas, 50
Endriejavas, 48
Gačioniai, 7
Gargždai, 48
Garliava, 53
Hill of Crosses, 49
Joniškis, 25
Josvainiai, 56
Kairiškiai, 49
Kaišiadorys, 1, 2
Kapčiamiestis, 43, 52
Kapsukas, 17, 36, 52, 56
Kaunas, 1,2,12,23,27,30, 31, 32, 33, 47
Kėdainiai, 56
Kelmė, 23
Keturvalakiai, 56
Klaipėda, 2, 29, 38-40
Krosna, 43
Kybartai, 10, 13, 36, 53. 54
Lazdijai, 43, 53
Leipalingis, 45
Lukšiai, 57
Marijampolė, 3, 17, 18, 36
Mažeikiai, 44
Medingėnai, 48
Meškuičiai, 49
Mittlestein, 30, 32
Molėtai, 36, 45, 55
Moscow, 6, 38, 39
Pagryžuvis, 30
Pajevonis, 46
Pakruojis, 7, 8
Pamūšis, 8,9
Papilė, 48, 49
Panevėžys, 2, 5, 30
Philadelphia, 6
Plungė, 50
Poland, 44, 52
Prienai, 14, 15, 16, 46, 47
Rainiai, 48
Ramygala, 31, 33
Raseiniai, 21, 48
Rimšė, 50
Rokiškis, 55
Rome, 2
Šakiai, 50, 51, 57
Šiauliai, 7, 44, 45, 49
Siberia. 1
Šilalė, 14, 29, 30, 47
Silesia, 30, 32, 33
Šilutė, 52
Šiluva, 6, 18, 37, 48, 53, 54, 55, 56
Skaudvilė, 51
Šlavantai, 36
Stačiūnai, 7
Stulgiai, 23, 24, 37
Švenčionys, 49, 50
Tauragė, 45, 49
Tauragnai, 42
Telšiai, 1, 2, 29, 48
Tytuvėnai, 30
U.S.A., 46
Utena, 42
Užpaliai, 31
Užuguostis, 14
Vabalninkas, 12
Varėna, 40, 41
Vėžaičiai, 48
Viduklė, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23
Viešvėnai, 47
Vilkaviškis, 1, 2, 13, 15, 36, 46, 53, 54, 55, 56
Vilnius,1,10,12,13,18,21,23,30,32,37,41,42,45,46,47
Vištytis, 46, 56
Vladimir, 1
Vytautava, 45
Ylakiai, 44
Žagarė, 25, 26, 49
Žaiginys, 21
Žalpiai, 23, 24, 37
Žemaičių Kalvarija, 37
Žilėnai, 40, 41
Židikai, 44
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