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CHRONICLE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN LITHUANIA, NO. 73
In this issue:
1.600 Years Have Been Kneeling
4.Congratulations and Thanks for Your Sacrifice!
9.New Underground Publications
Lithuania March 19,1987
A Translation of the Complete Lithuanian Original LIETUVOS KATALIKŲ BAŽNYČIOS KRONIKA Nr. 73 Documenting the Struggle for Human Rights In Soviet-Occupied Lithuania Today
Translated by: Rev. Casimir Pugevičius Translation Editor: Marian Skabeikis Published by Lithuanian Catholic Religious Aid 351 Highland Blvd., Brooklyn NY 11207
© Lithuanian Catholic Religious Aid, 1988
ISSN 0197-0348
Franciscan Fathers Press 341 Highland Blvd. Brooklyn NY 11207
COVER: Liudas Dambrauskas, released from the-Mordovian prison hospital in January, 1987. A chemist, the Kaunas resident was sentenced to 3.5 years strict regime camp and 2 years internal exile in October, 1984, for writing his memoirs about prison life under Stalin. Dambrauskas has a long-standing heart condition and suffered from tuberculosis while in camp. (p. 14)
CHRONICLE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN LITHUANIA No. 73
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, 37 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 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 "u-nanimously" 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: 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 Liudas 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 workd 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
Abuladzhe, Tengiz 45 Alminas, Father Adomas 29 Anilionis, Petras 12 Anužis, Father Stanislovas 29 Arlauskas, Father Klemensas 29 Arnašius, Father Albinas 29 Atkočiūnas, Father Edmundas 29 Augustis, Father Antanas 29
Bakučionis, Jurgis 16,19,43 Baliūnas, Father Feliksas 36 Balkevičius, Vladas 11 Balsys, Father Petras 29 Banevičiūtė, Jūratė 15 Bauman 18 Beleckas, Pranas 39 Bendoravičius 37 Beniušis, Father Antanas 29 Bernotas, Father Petras 29 Bivainis, Father Domininkas 29 Borisevičius, Bishop Vincentas i Bradžius, Father Bronislovas 29 Brazdžionis 17 Brilius, Father Kęstutis 38 Bubnys, Father Prosperas 16, 28 Bučinskas, Father Jonas 29 Bugelis, Father Jonas 29 Bukauskas, Father Juozapas 29 Bumbulis, Alfonsas 40 Bunkus, Father Antanas 29 Burneikis, Father Bronislovas 29 Butkevičius, Povilas 15 Buzinskas 19
Česnulevičiūtė, Ona 17 Chebrikov 36 Cidzikas, Petras 40 Čiurlionis, M. K. 16,17
Dambrauskas, Father Liudvikas 29 Dambrauskas, Liudas 14 Darwin, Charles 32 Degutis, Father Česlovas 29 Degutis, Father Zenonas 29 Dovydaitis, Pranas 46 Drilinga, A. 8
Einstein, Albert 31, 32
Father Sigitas Tamkevičius 28 Fordyce 32 Franskaitis, Father Albertas 29
Gajauskas, Balys 46 Garjonis, Father Antanas 29 Gasciūnas, Father Kazimieras 29 Gaurilčikienė, Mrs. 35 Gauronskis, Father Anupras 29 Gauronskis, Father Vincas 29 Gausiūnas, Father Juozapas 29 Gedvilą, Father Jonas 29 Genutis, Father Algis 29 Genzelis, B. 3 Giedgaudas, Č. 16 Giedra, Father Domininkas 29 Girnius, Juozas 16 Gliaudą, Jurgis 16 Gorbachev, Mikhail 4, 6, 7,11, 24, 27; 36, 41 Grabauskas, Father Juozapas 29 Gražulis 43,44,45 Gražulis, Angelė 43 Gražulis, Father Antanas 36 Gražulis, Janina 43 Gražulis, Petras 40,41 Grigas 42 Grigas, Robertas 40 Gudaitytė, Marytė 42 Gudaitytė. Marytė 41 Gudliauskas, Father Česlovas 29 Gunta, Father Juozapas 29 Gylys, Father Antanas 29 Gylys, Father Kazimieras 29
Hathaway 31
Ibsen 20 Iešmantas, Gintautas 21, 22, 27,46 Ilinčius, Father Stanislovas 29 Insoda, Father Vytautas 28 Ivanauskas, Father Antanas 28, 29
Jadviršis, Father Konstantinas 29 Jakavonis, Father A. 15 Jakubčionis, Gediminas 18 Jakubčionis, Jakubčionis 18 Jalinskas, Father Vincentas 39 Jarmalienė, Mrs. 37 Jasas, Father Petras 29 Jocas 41 Jocienė, L. 39 Jonauskas, Father Juozapas 29 Jonauskis, Father Boleslovas 29 Judikevičiūtė, Janina 40 Juozapavičius 39 Jurgaitis, Father Antanas 29 Juškys, Father Vladislovas 29
Kadys, Father Vytautas 29 Kalakauskas 18,19 Kalanta, Romas 26 Kalinauskas, Father Leonas 38 Kauneckas, Father Jonas 29 Kazalupskas, Juozas 40 Kelpšas, Saulius 40, 41 Kimbrys, Petras 16 Klebonas, Father Vincentas 29 Klimavičius, Father Alfonsas 29 Krikščiūnas, Bishop Romualdas ii Krūmas, V. 39 Krygin 40,41 Kudirka, Simas 17 Kudukytė, Vanda 17 Kuznetsov 4
Labukas-Matulaitis, Bishop Juozas ii Lapienis, Vladas 13,14 Latakas, Father Bronislovas 29 Lazutka, V. 22 Lebedev35,36 Leita, A. 33, 34 Letukas, Father Stasys 29 Lideikis, Father Aloyzas 29 Lierinskas, Father Stanislovas 29 Ligachev, Yegor 7 Linkevičius, Father Petras 29
Maceina 17 Maceina, Antanas 16 Macelis, Father Kazimieras 29 Mao 6 Marcinkus, J. 16 Masilionis, Father Pranciškus 10 Matulevičius, Archbishop Jurgis 38 Matulionis, Bishop Teofilius i, ii Matulionis, Father Jonas-Kąstytis 19, 28,46 Matusevičiūtė, Aldona 17 Maželis, Bishop Petras ii Maželis, Father Juozapas 29 Mažylis, Pranas 41,42 Meiliulis, Valdemaras 39 Merliūnas, Father Petras 29 Michelevičius, Bishop Vladas 38 Mieželaitis 24 Miklovas, Father Juozapas 29 Mikučiauskas, Edmindas 16 Mikutavičius, Father Vytautas 29 Miliūnienė 14 Miliūnienė, Mrs. 14 Miškinis, Father Julius 29
Našlėnas, Father Petras 29 Neverauskas, A. 39 Niūniavaitė, Jovita 18,19
Olšauskas 17 Olšauskas, Father Juozapas 29
Pacinskas, Father Juozapas 29 Pakalniškis, Father Jonas 29 Pakamanis, Father Algirdas 29, 35, 39 Pakamanis, Father Algis 39 Pakamanis, Father Pakamanis 39 Pakarklis 4 Paliukas, Father Jonas 29 Paltarokas, Bishop Kazimieras i Patackas, Algirdas 14,15,16 Patackas, Antanas 15 Patackas, Nijolė 15 Patackienė, Nijolė 15 Pečeliūnas, Povilas 20,46 Petkus, Viktoras 46 Petrauskas, Father Jonas 29 Petrauskas, Father Vytautas 29 Petronaitis, Father Antanas 29 Pontius Pilate 25 Pope John Paul II36 Poška, Father Tadas 29 Povilonis, Bishop Liudas ii Prialgauskas, Father Kazimieras 29 Pridotkas, Father Alfonsas 29 Priekšas, Bishop Juozapas 38 Prunskis 17 Pudžemys, Father Adolfas 29 Puidokas, Father Klemensas 29 Puzaras, Father Petras 29
Racevičius, Father Bronislovas 29 Raižyte, Aldona 40 Ramanauskas, Bishop Pranas i, ii Razminas, Father Juozapas 29 Reinys, Archbishop Mečislovas i Rekašius, Arūnas 15 Riekus, Father Antanas 29 Rimkus, Father Kazimieras 29 Rudzinskas, Father Jonas 29 Rutalė, Father Juozapas 29 Rybelis, Antanas 4
Sabaliauskas, A. 16 Saint Casimir 19,31 Saint Peter 20 Saja, K. 6 Sakalauskas, J. 3 Sakavičius, Gintautas 19 Šalkauskis, Stasys 3 Šarkauskas, Father Liudas 29 Šelgas, Father Henrikas 29 Serapinas, Father Liudas 29 Šeškevičius, Father Antanas 28, 29, 30, 35 Šeškevičius, Kazys 30 Šilbajoris 17 Šimonis, Edvardas 16 Simutis, Liudas 14,15 Sirtautas, Father Henrikas 29 Širvaitis, Father Juozapas 29 Siurys, Father Juozapas 29 Skirmontas, Father Domininkas 29 Skuodis, Vytautas 13,14 Sladkevičius, Bishop Vincentas ii, 38 Sladkevičius, Bishop Vinentas 4 Sledkevičius, Bishop Vincentas 38 Šlevas, Father Vladas 29 Šnipas 42 Sokolovsky 18 Sokolovsky, V.M. 18 Stalin ii Stanys 42 Steponavičius, Bishop Julijonas ii, 9, 36, 38, 39,40 Stepučinskas 15 Striukis, Father Antanas 29 Stukas, Father Petras 29 Šukys, Father Juozapas 29 Suminas 34 Surplienė, J. 30,32,33,34, 35 Švambarys, Father Tomas 29 Svarinskas, Father Alfonsas 9,14, 28, 42,46 Svarinskas. Father Alfonsas 42 Svirbutavičiūtė, Aldona 43,45
Talaišis, Father Bernardas 29 Tamašauskas, Father Liudas 29 Tamkevičius, Father Sigitas 9,14,17, 20,42,46 Tamošauskienė, Mrs. 42 Tamošiūnienė, Inetą 18 Terleckas, Antanas 14 Trivickas 42 Tumėnas, Kazimieras 33
Urbonas 24
Vėlavičius, Father Vincentas 29 Vaičius, Bishop Antanas ii, 4, 29 Vaitelis, Father Stanislovas 29 Valaitis 17 Valaitis, Father Feliksas 29 Valaitytė, Miss 40 Velioniškis, Father Konstantinas 29 Venskus, Father Pranciškus 29 Vertelkaitė, Joana 17 Vertelkaitė, Vincenta 16,17 Veselis, Father Leonas 29 Vičiulis, Father Jonas 29 Vidzėnas 14,15,17 Vidzėnas, A. 16 Vinclova, Alfonsas 17 Vitkutė, Z. 34 Volskis, Father Aloyzas 29
Žeberskis, Father Ignas 29 Žemaitytė, Miss 40 Žilys, Father Ferdinandas 29 Yla, Father Stasys 16 Žukas, Father Anupras 29 Žukas, Father Kazimieras 29 Žulpa, Father Romualdas 29 Žvirzdinas, Father Vytautas 29 Zalomskytė,V. 38 Zdanavičius, Father Antanas 29 Zdebskis, Father Juozas 9,10,17, 28, 38, 39
INDEX OF PLACES
Adutiškis 42 Altay21 Alytus 36, 37,43
Bazilioniai 36 Bethlehem 20 Birštonas 17
Chelyabinsk 13
Gargždai 30, 31, 34,35 German Democratic Republic 28, 33 Girkalnis 16 Gruenwald 17
Helsinki 9 Hungary 28, 33
Igrim 21 Italy 4
Kaišiadorys ii Kapčiamiestis 19 Kapsukas 38 Kaunas i, ii, 4,5,14,15,17,40,41,42 Kestaičiai 5 Klaipėda ii, 4, 27,28,29,30,31, 33,34, 38, 39,40,41 Kražiai 5
Lazdijai 19, 38, 39
Magadan 13,14 Makniūnai43,44 Marijampolė 38 Mordovia 13,14,18 Moscow 4, 6,18,25,40,41
Nazareth 20
Panevėžys i, ii Perm 14 Podzhar 21 Poland 28, 33 Prienai 41
Rome ii Rudamina 38, 39
Šakynai 39 Seinai 46 Šiauliai 35, 39 Siberia i Šiluva 12,46 Skersbalis 41 Suvalkai 46 Švenčioniai 42
Telšiai i, ii, 27, 28,29
Utena 42
Varduva 39 Vilkaviškis i, ii, 17 Vilnius i, 3,13,14,15,16,17,18,19, 28, 31,33, 37,40 Vladimir i Vuktil 21
Žagarė 36 Žarėnai-Latveliai 35,39
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