Żmudzki biskup Józef Arnulf Giedroyć (1757-1838) i jego diecezja
LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Alsėdžiai; Giedraičių giminė; Juozapas Arnulfas Giedraitis; Katalikų bažnyčia Lietuvoje; Kunigų seminarija; Lietuvos katalikų bažnyčia; Parapija; Pastoracinės pareigos; Pirmasis Naujojo Testamento vertimas lietuviškai; Tautinis judėjimas; Vyskupas; Vyskupas Juozapas Amulfas Giedraitis; Vyskupystė; Žemaitija (Samogitia); Žemaitija XIX a.; Alsėdžiai; Bishop; Bishop Jozef Amulf Giedroyc; Catholic church in Lithuania; Diocese; First complete translation of the new Testament into Lithuanian; Jozef Arnulf Giedroyc; Lithuanian Catholic Church; National movement; Pastoral Duties; Priest Seminary; Samogitia; Samogitia in the 19th C.; The Giedroyce family.
ENBishop Józef Amulf Giedroyć (Lithuanian: Juozapas Amulfas Giedraitis) was the descendant of the old Lithuanian princely line which can be traced to the thirteenth - century Duke Giedrius. The Giedroyce were ruling dukes (according to the Polish term, książąta udzielny) and members of the family held prominent positions in the Lithuanian Church. Several members of the Giedroyć family were ordained priest and worked in various parts of Lithuania. Three Giedroyć princes were consecrated bishop of western Lithuanian Duchy of Žemaitija (Latin: Samogitia; Polish: Żmudź). Józef Amulf Giedroyć was bom in the parish of Giedraičiai (diocese of Vilnius) in 1757 on the estate of Colonel (Rotmistrz) Jan Giedroyć in the ancient heartland of the Giedroyce clan. He received basic theological education necessary for clerics at the Žemaitįjan Seminary. In January 1781 Józef Amulf Giedroyć was ordained the priest and in the autumn of the same year left for Western Europe. For some time he lived in Rome before moving on to Paris. Józef Amulf Giedroyć assumed the žemaitįjan crozier in 1801 and governed the diocese till 1838. He appointment as bishop of Žemaitija coincided with great reforms in the administrative structure of the Catholic Church in Lithuania which were determined primarily by the political situation that formed after the Third Partition of the Republic of the Two nations in 1795. Lithuanian bishops could establish official contacts with the Supreme Pontiff only through the Roman Catholic College established in St Petersburg in 1801 or through the Russian envoy to the Holy See.But the events developed differently from the way the Russian authorities had expected. The Catholic Church became the guarantee of the continuation of traditions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, simultaneously performing the function of a religious and cultural barrier to protect the nation from extinction. The role of Józef Arnulf Giedroyć, as well as that of the diocese he governed, is of great significance here. Attention should be paid to the fact that, by successfully combining his pastoral duties from the outset with cultural and intellectual activity, Giedroyć earned great authority among well - educated people in Žemaitija. The Bishop’s residence in Alsėdžiai became the centre of the Lithuanian national cultural movement. The bishop's culturo-linguistic aspirations, though closely related to pastoral activity (encyclicals issued to his flock in Lithuanian, and the translation of the new Testament) greatly exceeded the basic requirements of diocesan religious life. The new Testament was printed in Vilnius in 1816 at the Missionary printing house in a run of 5000 copies. This was the first complete translation of the new Testament into Lithuanian for the use of Catholics. By ingeniously exploiting the administrative and economic opportunities bestowed by his high social position, Giedroyć contributed greatly to the creation of a strong Lithuanian linguistic and cultural centre in Žemaitija at the beginning of the nineteenth centuiy whose ideas were to have an impact on the cultural life of Lithuania for many decades to come. [From the publication]
