Military Ordinariate of Lithuania

Lietuvos kariuomenės ordinariatas
Location
Country Lithuania
Coordinates54°40′56″N 25°16′58″E / 54.68222°N 25.28278°E / 54.68222; 25.28278
Information
DenominationRoman Catholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteLatin Rite
Established25 November 2000 (23 years ago)
CathedralCathedral of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Vilnius
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopVacant
Apostolic AdministratorGintaras Grušas
Website
http://www.ordinariatas.lt

The Military Ordinariate of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos kariuomenės ordinariatas) is a military ordinariate of the Roman Catholic Church. Immediately subject to the Holy See, it provides pastoral care to Roman Catholics serving in the Lithuanian Armed Forces and their families. The military ordinaries have the rights and duties of a bishop and participate in the Lithuanian Bishops' Conferences.[1]

Establishment

The relationship between Lithuania and the Holy See was regulated by the Concordat of 1927. The Vatican did not recognize the occupation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union in 1940 and the concordat remained in effect.[2] After Lithuania regained independence in 1990, Lithuania reestablished official diplomatic relations with the Holy See and concluded three agreements on 5 May 2000. One of these agreements concerned pastoral services to members of the Lithuanian Armed Forces and agreed on the establishment of the military ordinariate.[2]

This agreement was modelled after the agreement to establish the Military Ordinariate of Croatia in 1997.[3] According to the agreement, the ordinariate is established by the Holy See and is headed by a military ordinary appointed by the Holy See. The ordinary appoints military chaplains. The Ministry of National Defence provides funding for the ordinariate and the military chaplains.[4]

The agreements were ratified and became effective in September 2000.[5] The military ordinariate of Lithuania was established by the apostolic constitution Christi discipuli issued on 25 November 2000.[6] After a year-long delay, a bilateral commission was formed to issue regulations on the new agreements. The work on the ordinariate's regulations went smoothly perhaps because there were already ample examples among other NATO countries and the regulations were adopted in August 2002.[7]

Places of worship

Cathedral of St. Ignatius of Loyola, a cathedral of the Ordinariate in Vilnius

On 23 November 2004 (the day of the Armed Forces of Lithuania), the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Vilnius was dedicated to the military ordinariate[8] (it acts as the seat of the curia and cathedral of the ordinariate).[6] Built in the 17th-century, the church was neglected during the Soviet period and underwent extensive renovations in 2001–2004 at a cost of 1.14 million litas paid by the Ministry of Defence.[8] The dedication ceremony was attended by many officials and dignitaries, including President Valdas Adamkus, Minister of Defence Linas Linkevičius, cardinal Audrys Juozas Bačkis, papal nuncio Peter Stephan Zurbriggen, and others.[8]

In addition the church in Vilnius, the ordinariate also has chapels at the General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania, at the military bases in Rukla and Tauragė. The military also uses the Church of St. Michael the Archangel, Kaunas.[6]

Activities

State funeral of Antanas Kraujelis in 2019

Military chaplains are both clergymen and military officers (they have military ranks, usually major or captain). They receive salaries from the ordinariate which is financed by the Ministry of National Defence. The military ordinary earns a salary equal to that of a first-year brigadier general.[9] In 2005, there were 17 military chaplains who served all military units of the Armed Forces of Lithuania as well as two military education institutions.[10] Chaplains also participated in the international military missions, including in Afghanistan.[11]

Roman Catholics are the only religious group to provide chaplains to the military. In September 2014, the Lithuanian Evangelical Reformed Church concluded an agreement with the Ministry of National Defence regarding pastoral services in the military. However, since the ministry would not finance such services, the church lacks financial resource and staff to implement the agreement in practice.[9]

Personnel

Military ordinaries

Chief military chaplains

  • Alfonsas Svarinskas (1990–1996)[10]
  • Alfonsas Bulotas (1996–2000)[10]
  • Juozas Gražulis (2000–2009)[10]
  • Saulius Kasmauskas (2009–2010)[14][15]
  • Rimas Venckus (acting 2010–2011,[6] permanent since 2011)[10]

References

  1. ↑ BNS (27 November 2000). "Karių sielovada rūpinsis kariuomenės ordinaras". Delfi.lt. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  2. 1 2 Presniakovaitė, Karolina (2014). "Religinių bendruomenių reguliavimo politika: Lietuvos sutartys (2000–2012) su Šventuoju Sostu (Vatikanu)". Politikos mokslų almanachas (in Lithuanian). 16: 84–85. ISSN 2335-7185.
  3. ↑ Juknevičius, Vytautas (2009). Šventojo Sosto ir Lietuvos Respublikos sutartis dėl kariuomenėje tarnaujančių katalikų sielovados (PDF) (Master's Thesis) (in Lithuanian). Mykolas Romeris University. p. 18.
  4. ↑ Kuznecovienė, Jolanta (2003). "Church and State in Lithuania". In Ferrari, Silvio; Durham Jr., W. Cole (eds.). Law and Religion in Post-communist Europe. Uitgeverij Peeters. p. 193. ISBN 90-429-1262-6.
  5. 1 2 Boruta, Jonas (25 November 2000). "LVK sekretoriato informacija apie Vyskupo Eugenijaus Bartulio paskyrimą Lietuvos Respublikos kariuomenės ordinaru" (in Lithuanian). Lietuvos Vyskupų Konferencija. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Veilentas, Virginijus (21 November 2010). "Lietuvos kariuomenės ordinariatui 10 metų" (in Lithuanian). Bernardinai.lt. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  7. ↑ Subačius, Paulius V. (2016). "The Interaction between the Church and the State (Not ) to the Letter: The twists and turns of preparing agreements between the Holy See and the Republic of Lithuania and some aspects of their implementation from the perspective of the Church". Politeja. 13 (45): 348. doi:10.12797/Politeja.13.2016.45.15. JSTOR 26213939.
  8. 1 2 3 BNS (23 November 2004). "Sostinės Šv.Ignoto bažnyčia perduota kariuomenei". Delfi.lt. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  9. 1 2 Glodenis, Donatas (2018). "Chaplaincy in the Republic of Lithuania". Religious assistance in public institutions. Proceedings of the XXVIIIth Annual Conference Jurmala, 13–16 October 2016 (PDF). Granada: European Consortium for Church and State Research. p. 223. ISBN 9788490457238.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Gražulis, Juozas (14 October 2019) [2006]. "karo kapelionas". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos centras.
  11. ↑ Pabiržis, Dovaidas (16 July 2015). "Karo kapelionai: tarp apkasų ir dangaus" (in Lithuanian). Veidas. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  12. 1 2 "Rinunce e nomine". Bollettino della Sala Stampa della Santa Sede (in Italian). Press Office of the Holy See. 2 July 2010. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  13. ↑ "Rinunce e nomine". Bollettino della Sala Stampa della Santa Sede (in Italian). Press Office of the Holy See. 5 April 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  14. ↑ "Paskirtas naujas vyriausiasis Lietuvos kariuomenės kapelionas" (in Lithuanian). Kauno diena. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  15. ↑ Cibulskienė, Lijana (2010). "Pažintis su monsinjoru Gintaru Grušu" (PDF). Karys (in Lithuanian). 9 (1978): 35. ISSN 2029-5669.
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