Palikti ar gelbėti? Kunigai lietuviai bolševikinėje Rusijoje (1918-1939)

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Dvasininkai; Katalikų Bažnyčia; Repatriacija; 20 amžius; Rusija (Russia); Vatikanas; Clergy; Catholic Church; Repatriation; 20th century.

ENBased on recently declassified documents from the Vatican archives, the article analyses the situation of clergy of Lithuanian origin in Bolshevik Russia and the reactions of the Holy See to the efforts of Lithuanian governments to take an active part in solving the problems of Catholics in that country. In order to strengthen their position domestically and internationally, the political figures in Lithuania who came to power by way of the coup d’état initially attempted to offer mediation services for the resumption of the stalled unofficial negotiations between the Vatican and the USSR and to carry out the mission of spreading Catholicism in Russia by taking advantage of the imagined better opportunities for the Lithuania and the Lithuanian clergy to do it. Noting the Soviets’ relatively reduced hostility towards Catholic priests of Lithuanian origin and hoping that they would manage to stay free longer, at the end of the third decade the Holy See actually tried to give them more responsibility for coordinating the pastoral care in the regions of the USSR. On the other hand, taking the previous experience of relations with the Soviets into account and viewing political interests of the Lithuanian government, the idea of a corridor through Lithuania to Russia was received very sceptically in Rome.The Vatican was also reserved about the efforts of the Lithuanian government to repatriate, in 1933–1934, the Lithuanian clergymen imprisoned by the Soviets. With this action, Lithuanian politicians hoped to improve their image in the Vatican and arouse positive emotions among the Lithuanian public. Meanwhile, Pope Pius XI and his entourage consistently maintained that even in the face of brutal persecution the Catholic clergy should try to remain in Russia as long as possible. Their position was only enhanced by the testimonies of the Lithuanian clergymen who came to Rome after being freed from Soviet prisons and by their heroic determination to return to their flock whenever possible. Therefore, the Holy See tried to control the flights of Lithuanian politicians and seek not the extradition of the priests, but their freeing, so that they could continue to serve the Lithuanian Catholic communities living in the USSR. [From the publication]

• Teologija / Theology
• Istorija / History