Lietuvos dvasininkų slapstymasis pokariu

LTStraipsnyje analizuojamas Lietuvos katalikų dvasininkų slapstymasis nuo sovietų valdžios: ilgiau ar trumpiau 1944–1953 m. slapstėsi maždaug kas dešimtas kunigas, išvykdamas dirbti į kitas vyskupijas, naudodamasis fiktyviais dokumentais, gyvendamas slėptuvėse ir kt. Analizuojamos slapstymosi priežastys, būdai ir rezultatai, Bažnyčios vadovų reakcija, besislapsčiusiųjų ryšiai su ginkluotu pogrindžiu. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Stalinizmas; Katalikų dvasininkija; Slapstymasis; Nepaklusnumas režimui; Stalinism; Catholic clergy; Hiding; Disobedience to the regime.

ENThis article analyses the phenomenon of the Lithuanian Catholic clergy in hiding from the soviet authorities during the postwar years 1944 to 1953. There were several reasons for this: to avoid repression, especially coercion to collaborate with the secret police; also, the clergy hoped for the quick restoration of the independent Republic of Lithuania. Approximately one in every ten Catholic priests went into hiding for a longer or shorter period of time – some went to work in other dioceses while others acquired fake documents or went into hiding-places.The extent of these attempts to stay off the eye of the secret police shows the position taken by the clergy: they did not want to wait passively for repression or to be forced to collaborate with the regime. The soviet authorities regarded these attempts to hide or to protect those persecuted as a form of disobedience to the government. The attempts proved to be ineffective: the underground period was longer than expected, and the hopes for political changes never materialized. Then, again, the soviet authorities could not tolerate the underground, and all those connected with it found themselves included in repression lists.Going underground remained an individual choice on the part of the clergy and never became a coordinated effort (nor did it become part of the freedom fighters’ movement or open up ways to leave Lithuania), although the Lithuanian hierarchy during 1944 to 1953 largely ignored the fact that priests were leaving their parishes or attempting to blend into the populace by using fake documents. From 1948 onward, the situation changed when the whole country was reorganized according to soviet policy (passports were strictly controlled, church property was nationalized, priests – the so-called “servants of the religious cult” – were registered, and the functioning churches were put under the surveillance of a wide KGB network); most of the priests in hiding were eventually arrested or decided to become legalized. The existence of “illegals” sharpened the conflict between the regime and the clergy, although most of these priests had no connection with any kind of armed resistance movements and had gone into hiding hoping for a rapid political change. [From the publication]