Rückkehr und Tätigkeit der Jesuiten in Litauen (1922-1940): ein Import des deutschen Katholizismus?

ENBasing on new archival material the article investigates the input of German Jesuits by the development of modern Catholicism in Lithuania. During the first Lithuanian Republic (1918-1940) activities of the Society of Jesus were renewed with the establishment of the Lower Germany province's branch. In this process German Jesuits have brought the uniformity and conservatism of the Roman ecclesiology rather than features of the contemporary Catholic culture in Germany. It has caused later clashes with the prevailing stream of the Catholic society in Lithuania, which was shaped strong enough by the young generation of Catholic intellectuals. Different habits and modes of action led also to the persistent tensions between German and Lithuanian fathers. General distrust to German Jesuits, which was evident in Lithuanian society from the very beginning and reached its peak during the crises of foreign policy, came down just in the last years of the first Republic with German fathers taking gradually roots in the Lithuanian culture and with the detachment of the Lithuanian province from the German tutelage. [From the publication]