Read this and pass it on! Appearing since 1972
CHRONICLE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN LITHUANIA, No. 61
In this issue:
1. To Our Dear Brethren, The Irish
2. The Spiritual Testament of Father Sigitas Tamkevičius
3. The Trial of Father Sigitas Tamkevičius
4. Thoughts on Reading the Article, "A Rosary in One Hand and a Stick in the Other"
5. Such is Soviet Freedom of Religion!
8. Priests in Defense of Believers' Rights
10.Catholics in the Soviet Republics
11.New Underground Publications
Lithuania January 6, 1984
CHRONICLE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN LITHUANIA, No. 61 
A Translation of the Complete Lithuanian Original LIETUVOS KATALIKŲ BAŽNYČIOS KRONIKA Nr. 61 Documenting the Struggle for Human Rights In Soviet-Occupied Lithuania Today
Translated hy: Rev. Casimir Pugevičius Translation 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 1984
ISSN 0197-0348
This issue made possible in part by the generous gift of the Knights of Lithuania
Franciscan Fathers Press 341 Highland Blvd. Brooklyn, NY 11207
COVER: Jonas Sadūnas, brother of Nijolė Sadūnaitė. He is serving an eighteen month term under fabricated "slander" charges.
CHRONICLE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN LITHUANIA No. 61
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 cared 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 inarched 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 to 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 consecrated: JulijonasSteponavičius 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 the 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 Translator
INDEX OF PERSONS
Alexander, Bishop, 53 Aliulis, Vaclovas, 46 Andriuškevičius, Antanas, 46 Andropov, Yuri, 22, 29, 30 Anilionis, Petras, 9,32,33,34, 48, 49 Antanaitis, Canon Bronius, 8
Baberžis, Ignas, 47 Babrauskas, Father B., 53 Bakučionis, Jurgis, 11, 13, 29, 34 Baltušis, Julius, 46 Baltutis, 32, 33 Baumila, Vidmantas, 35, 39 Baužys, Danielius, 46 Beniušis, Father Antanas, 50 Biekšta, Vincas, 40 Bieleckis, Father, J., 53 Bieliak, Sofija, 51 Bieliauskienė, Jadvyga, 50, 55 Bielickis, Father, J. 53 Bielička, Alfonsas, 33 Biržiška, 54 Blazevič, Henrikas, 47 Blažys, Romualdas, 46 Boerne, L., 16 Borisevičius, Bishop Vincentas, 1 Boruta, Father Jonas, 8,47,49,50 Bukaveckaitė, Joana, 11 Bumbulis, Alfonsas, 24, 29 Butkuvienė, Genovaitė, 36, 37
Catherine the Great, 52 Čarukevič, Janas, 4F Chumiak, 31 Čeponis, Father Aldas, 46, 49 Černiauskas, Ričardas, 47 Černiauskas, Vladas, 46 Daunoras, Petras, 46
Dilys, Antanas, 46 Dovidaitis, Father Gvidonas, 8 Dudko, Dmitri, 5, 6 Dumbliauskas, Father Albinas, 52, 53 Dziekan, Antonis, 46 Filimonov, Alexei, 30, 31
Gailius, Father Kazimieras, 46,49 Gajauskas, Balys, 55 Gajauskas, Konstantinas, 46 Gardauskas, 37 Gavėnaitė, Monika, 40 Golov, V.B., 31, 32 Gražulis, Father Antanas, 8 Grigaitis, Jonas, 47 Griškaitienė, Ona, 33 Griškevičius, 37 Griškevičius, Petras, 47, 48 Gustaitis, Msgr. Andrius, 50 Gutauskas, Father Algirdas, 9
Hitler, 22, 52
Iešmantas, Gintautas, 55 Ignotas, 11
Jagminas, Father Leonardas, 36 Jakutis, Ignas, 46 Jankus, Pijus, 46 Jaugelis, Father Virgilijus, 35 Jaura, Bronius, 46 Jeskelevičius, Vytautas, 47 Jokubauskas, Father Antanas, 8 Judas, 6 (Judikevičius), Jurgis, 14 Judikevičiūtė, Janina, 10, 11, 14, 15 Jurevičius, Mečislovas, 55
Kakareika, Stanislovas, 46 Kalinauskas, Father Leonas, 8,34 Kardelis, Jonas, 47 Kaškevičius, Aleksandras, 46 Kauneckas, Father Jonas, 8, 9, 34 Kavaliauskaitė, Ona, 35, 36 Kazalupskas, Juozas, 24,28,29,32 Kazlauskas, Algis, 46 Keina, Father Algimantas, 8, 12 , 46 Keller, Father, 53 Kilaitė, Zofija, 36 Kinčiūtė, Zita, 36 Kindurys, Kazimieras, 46 Kondrusevičius, Tadeušas, 46 Konstancija Cimanovskaya, 52 Kovalev, Sergei, 55 Krikščiukaitis, Father P., 53 Krikščiūnas, Bishop Romualdas, 2 Kryževičienė, Elena, 41 Kukta, Jonas, 46 Kulvietis, Edmundas, 47 Kuodytė, Julija, 40 Kupčinaitė, Zita, 36
Labukas-Matulaitis, Bishop Juozas, 2 Laurinavičius, Father Bronius, 49 Lauriūnas, Father Jonas, 46, 49 Lidys, Stasys, 46 Liniauskas, 34, 37, 38, 39
Mačulaitienė, Nastutė, 33 Malachovski, Silvestras, 46 Mališkaitė, Bernadeta, 35 Markevičius, Stasys, 46 Marx, 54 Matulaitis, Jurgis, 15 Matulevičius, 39, 40 Matulionis, Bishop Teofilius, 1, 2 Matulionis, Father, Jonas, 37, 38, 39 Maželis, Bishop Petras, 2 Meilus, Kazys, 47 Merkys, Alfonsas, 46 Mikličienė, Alma, 40 Mockuvienė, Mrs. S., 17, 18, 19, 21 Molis, Konstantinas,
Našlėnas, Father Petras. 9 Naudėnienė, Petronė, 40 Navickaitė, Genovaitė, 10 Nestiukas, Leonidas, 47 Norkūnas, Juozas, 47 Norkūnas, Napoleonas, 47
Obremski, Juzefas, 46
Pakalka, Nikodemas, 46 Paltarokas, Bishop Kazimieras, 2 Patackas, Algimantas, 10 Patiejūnas, Zenonas, 46 Paukštytė, Veronika, 36 Paulionis, Father Edmundas, 9,46 Pečeliūnas, Povilas, 55 Petkus, Viktoras, 41, 55 Petravičius, Father Mykolas, 9,46 Petronis, Alfonsas, 46 Pilelis, 33, 34 Pilipčik, Anton, 47 Pope John Paul II, 47 Poškus, Juozas, 47 Povilonis, Bishop Liudvikas, 2 Puidokas, Father Stanislovas, 46, 48, 49 Puidokas, Juozas, 46 Pukėnas, Kazimieras, 46 Purlys, Petras, 47 Puzaras, Father Petras, 50 Puzonas, Father Rokas, 8 Pūkas, Vytautas, 46
Raižytė, Aldona, 39, 40 Ramanauskas, Bishop Pranas, 1, 2 Reinys, Archbishop Mečislovas, 1, 2 Ruslov, 30 Rūkas, Vytautas, 47
Sadūnaitė, Nijolė, 36 Sadūnas, Jonas, 36, 39 Sakavičius, Bronius, 46 Sasnauskas, Julius, 41, 42, 55 Saulius, Justinas, 46 Savickas, Leonas, 46 Savickas, Marijonas, 46 Siaurusaitytė, Birutė, 32 Simonaitis, Antanas, 46 Skuodis, Docent Vytautas, 55 Sladkevičius, Bishop Vincentas, 2 Sniečkus, 28 Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr, 40 Stakėnas, Father Vaclovas, 8, 12, 33, 34 Stalin, 2, 22, 26 Stanelytė, Gemma-Jadvyga, 40 Starkevičius, Algirdas, 55 Steponavičius, Bishop Julijonas, 2, 27 Stonys, Martynas, 46 Striokaitė, Giedrė, 10 Svarinskas, Father Alfonsas 4, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 37, 40, 41, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 54, 55 Svidnickis, Father, J., 53 Šarakauskaitė, Ona, 35 Šaukienė, Mrs. M. 37 Šeškevičius, Father Antanas, 52 Slėnys, Jordanas, 46 (Šūkis), Povilas, 14 Šukytė, Aldona, 10, 14, 15, 24, 29 Šuliauskaitė, Elena, 40
Tamašauskaitė, Romutė, 10 Tamkevičius, Father Sigitas, 3, 4,5,7,8,10,11,12,13,14,15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 45, 46, 47, 50, 54, 55 Tamulaitis, Alfonsas, 47 Taraškevičius, Česlovas, 47 Tarvydas, Petras, 47 Teresius, A. 40 Terleckas, Antanas, 55 Tichonov, 30 Trusevič, Adofas, 47 Trusov, 31 Tutlis, 33 Tunaitis, Juozas, 47 Tunaitis, Steponas, 47
Ulickas, Albertas, 47 Urbonas, Juozas, 33, 37, 38. 47 Utkin, 29 Užkuraitis, Father Vytautas, 8
Vaičionis, Kazimieras, 47 Vaičius, Bishop Antanas, 2 Vaičiūnas, Vytautas, 40 Vaitonis, Jonas, 47 (Valaitis), Jeronimas, 14 Valaitytė, Bronė, 10, 11 Valaitytė, Bronislava, 14, 15 Valančiauskas, Domas, 47 Valeikis, Kazimieras, 47 Valiukėnas, Stanislovas, 47 Valiukonis, Donatas, 47 Vasiliauskas, Kazimieras, 47 Velymanski, Vladislavas, 47 Verikas, Vaclovas, 47 Vėlavičius, Father Vincas, 8, 34
Yakunin, 13
Zaman, Antonis, 47 Zdebskis, Father Juozas 8 Žemaitis, Mykolas, 47 Žemaitytė, Albina, 24, 29 Žemėnas, Father Kazimieras, 47, 49 Žilys, Kazimieras, 47
INDEX OF PLACES
Abez, 17 Africa, 25, 27 Akmenė, 28 Alma-Ata, 53 Altay, 52, 53, 54 Alytus, 8, 33 Atyubinsk, 53 Aušros Vartai, 8, 9, 10, 49
Biržiai, 14
Caucasia, 54 Celinograd, 53 Chelyabinsk, 53
Dushanbe, 53, 54 Dzhambul, 53
Elektrėnai, 28
Fatima, 51 Frunze, 52, 53
Garliava, 39, 50 German Democratic Republic, 25, 44 Griškabūdis, 8
Hill of Crosses, 48, 50, 51 Hungary, 25
Jonava, 39 Josvainiai, 34
Kaišiadorys, 1, 2, 47 Kaliningrad, 31 Kantą, 52 Kapsukas, 11, 14 Karaganda, 53 Kaunas, 2, 28, 31, 32, 36, 37, 39. 40,41 Kazakh, 52, 53 Kirghiz, 52, 53 Klaipėda, 2, 28 Krasnoarmeysk, 53 Kriokialaukis, 33 Kurgan-Tyube, 53, 54 Kustanay, 52, 53 Kybartai, 7, 12, 20, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38
Latvia, 52 Lazdijai, 35 Lenin (R a y o n), 8, 11
Meškuičiai, 50 Mordovia, 54 Moscow, 13, 22, 23, 29, 30, 31, 32
Naujoji Vilnija, 48 Novosibirsk, 53
Omsk, 53
Pagramantis, 50 Panevėžys, 2 Parabel, 42 Pavlodar, 53, 54 Petropavlovsk, 54 Plateliai, 49 Plungė, 49 Pociunėlė, 8 Poland, 25, 28 Prokhlodnoy, 53, 54 Prokopyevsk, 53
Raseiniai, 36, 37 Riga, 51, 54 Rome, 2
Saratov, 53, 54 Sasnava, 11, 14 Siberia, 1, 2 Skaisgiris, 36 Skaudvilė, 34 Slavgorod, 5S Šaukėnai, 21 Šiauliai, 50 Šiluva, 4, 48, 51, 52 Šlavantai, 18, 35 Švenčionėliai, 49 Švenčioniai, 49
Tadzhik, 52, 53 Tashkent, 53 Tauragė, 50 Telšiai, 1, 2, 48 Tomsk, 42, 53, 54
Ukraine, 52 Utena, 51 Uzbek, 52, 53
Valakampiai, 10 Viduklė, 37, 40 Vieviai, 40 Vilkaviškis, 1, 2, 33, 37 Vilnius, 7, 8, 9, 14, 21, 22, 27, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 47, 48, 49 Vladimir, 2 Volchikha, 53, 54 Volga, 52 Volgograd, 53
Zhitomir, 51
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Places mentioned in the Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania No. 61
