Vyskupo Mykolo Pranciškaus Karpavičiaus darbas Vygriuose
LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Mykolas Pranciškus Karpavičius; Vyskupai; Vygriai; Mykolas Pranciškus Karpavičius; Bishops; Vygriai.
ENThe first bishop of Vygriai Mykolas Pranciškus Karpavičius faced a lot of problems after the King of Prussia had signed his appointment to the newly created Diocese of Vygriai on January 19, 1797. The Prussian government had a lot of reservations about the text of the oath which the newly appointed bishop M. P. Karpavičius had to submit to the Pope. It collided with the principle of sovereignty of the Prussian state. Therefore, the authorities tried to halt the course of events. On the appointed date, July 9-11, 1800, the Camaldolese monastery was transferred to the new Diocese of Vygriai as well as the acts of the erection and the assumption of the cathedral were issued. Priest Jan Klemens Gołaszewski was delegated by the Bishop of Płock Kajetan Szembek to take care of everything. The Prussian authorities were represented by the secret royal councilor Justyn Jackstein. The bishop had two profitable parishes: the first one was Gražiškės near the Prussian border, the second one was Prienai on the Nemunas River. The new diocese was organized by bishop M. P. Karpavičius from scratch. The closest collaborator of the bishop was the vicar in spiritualibus and the general officer of the former Łuck diocese priest Jan Klemens Gołaszewski, who was from the congregation of missionary priests, canon of Przemyśl, a provost of the Waniewo parish. The bishop‘s residence was located in the south-west corner of the Camaldolese monastery complex. Currently, there is the so-called Royal House, rebuilt after the Second World War. It was built by M. P. Karpavičius at the beginning of the 19th century. The building for guests, where the chancellory chapel is now located, used to be a hospital and a flat of a parish priest. The new host rebuilt the interior of the church, which was elevated to the rank of the cathedral. In order to enlarge the presbytery, the main altar was moved towards the eastern wall and the place for the religious choir was liquidated.A new place for the choir was built next to the wall of the front elevation. From the very beginning of the establishment of the Vygriai diocese there was a lack of priests in the parishes. Many of them did not want to stay in Prussia and went abroad to their native dioceses. The Prussian authorities confiscated the property of the Camaldolese Order. Therefore, all the monks were forced to move to the Order in Warsaw in Bielany. The Prussian government wanted to have a decisive influence on the matters of the Catholic church in the annexed territories. On the one hand, they tried to make the Vygriai diocese independent of the influence of Gniezno and the direct influence of the Holy See, but on the other hand, they wanted to solve all the issues according to the needs of Prussian policy. Therefore, there was often a friction between the Prussian authorities and the bishop M. P. Karpavičius. [From the publication]
