Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vilnius

Coordinates: 54°54′N 23°57′E / 54.900°N 23.950°E / 54.900; 23.950
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the former Eastern Catholic (Byzantine Rite) diocese, see Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Vilnius.
Archdiocese of Vilnius

Archidioecesis Vilnensis

Vilniaus Arkivyskupija
Diocese of Panevėžys
Auxiliary BishopsArūnas Poniškaitis, Darius Trijonis
Bishops emeritusCardinal Audrys Bačkis
Map
Website
vilnius.lcn.lt

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Vilnius (

Roman Catholic Church in Lithuania. Established as the Diocese of Vilnius in the 14th century, it was elevated to the rank of a metropolitan archdiocese by Pope Pius XI on October 28, 1925. It has two suffragan sees of Kaišiadorys and Panevėžys
.

The archdiocese's

motherchurch and thus seat of its archbishop is Cathedral-Basilica of St. Stanislaus and St. Ladislaus in Vilnius; it also houses a minor basilica in Trakai. The current archbishop of Vilnius is Gintaras Grušas. He is assisted by auxiliary bishops Arūnas Poniškaitis
and Darius Trijonis.

History

Establishment

Renaissance coat of arms of the Cathedral chapter of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Vilnius
Coat of arms in 1875

The Archdiocese owes its foundation to

Bernardines were established at Vilnius. Albert Tabor, a Lithuanian, invited the Dominicans to Vilnius and entrusted to them the Church of the Holy Spirit; Albert Radziwiłł (1508–1519) died in the odour of sanctity; John the Lithuanian (1519–1537) held the first diocesan synod at Vilnius in 1526; Prince Paweł Holszański (1534–1555) restored his cathedral in the Gothic style and held a synod in 1555; Walerian Protasewicz Suszkowski (1556–1580) had to contend for the celibacy of the clergy and the use of Latin in the Liturgy; he brought the Jesuits, among whom was Piotr Skarga
, to Vilnius.

Reformation

Prince

Church of Saints Peter and Paul, taking St. Peter's for his model. The diocese then comprised 25 deaneries with 410 churches. Constantius Casimir Brzostowski (1687–1722) brought the Piarists to Vilnius and encouraged the development of the religious orders. In the episcopate of Michael Zienkowicz (1730–1762), conflicts between the Jesuits and the Piarists arose, resulting in the closing of Piarist schools. Prince Ignacy Jakub Massalski
(1762–1794) encouraged the reform of the clergy and devoted his immense fortune to the churches of his diocese.

Under the Russian Empire

After the partitions of Poland–Lithuania, the Diocese of Vilnius became part of the Russian Empire and no longer enjoyed freedom of relations with the Holy See. In 1795 the chapter nominated David Pilchowski vicar in spiritualibus. Livonia was added to the diocese, and John Nepomucene Kossakowski (1798–1808) was appointed bishop. He did much for the prosperity of the seminary. After his death the chapter became involved in a conflict with Siestrzencewicz, the Catholic Metropolitan of Saint Petersburg, who usurped rights exclusively belonging to the Holy See. Siestrzencewicz forced upon the chapter, as administrator of the diocese, Geronimo Strojonowski (1808–1815), upon whose death he arrogated to himself the government of the diocese with the title of primate of Lithuania.

In 1827, after Siestrzencewicz's death, the

Mohilev
, but continued to govern his former diocese until 1858.

Adam Stanislaus Krasinski was expelled from the diocese in consequence of the

administrator Apostolic
.

Other activities

The

Brest-Litovsk as suffragan of Vilnius. So also the ancient Diocese of Livonia, suppressed in 1797, had become suffragan to Vilnius, and in 1798 had for its first bishop Adam Kossiafkowski (died 1828) but in 1848 was annexed to the Diocese of Samogitia (in Lithuania proper) or see of Kaunas
.

The flourishing Catholic life of the Diocese of Vilnius is attested by the large number of synods held there. The first of these was in 1502, under Bishop Tabor. Then followed the synods of 1526, for the reform of manners and the organization of the parochial schools; of 1528, to collect funds for the restoration of the cathedral; of 1555, to oppose the spread of Lutheranism; of 1582; of 1607, which made many regulations for the administration of the sacraments and the discipline of the clergy; of 1630, regulating the administration of ecclesiastical property; of 1654, to aid the state with new imposts; of 1669 with its disciplinary regulations; of 1685, with ordinances relating to the administration of the sacraments and the life of the clergy; of 1744, with regulations in regard to the catechism, mixed marriages and spiritual exercises. After the synod of 1744, under Bishop Michael Zienkowicz, no others were held, but the bishops addressed to their clergy pastoral letters, some of them of notable import.

Churches

Franciscan Church, one of the oldest in Vilnius

The diocese possesses splendid churches and venerable sanctuaries. Of the former the largest and most beautiful are in Vilnius, although many, violently wrested from the Catholics, became Russian Orthodox churches. The

St. Casimir and of the Immaculate Conception
.

Other important churches are those of the

Leo X; Corpus Domini, founded by the Archconfraternity of the Blessed Sacrament in 1573; and the Church of the Guardian Angels
.

To these must be added the numerous churches of the religious order, which flourished in Lithuania, but of which few traces remain. The

Visitandines
and others also had churches, to which must be added numerous chapels.

The Church of Saint Joseph being demolished by the order of authorities in Vilnius, 1877

After the

Benedictine Sisters (connected with the Church of St. Catherine at Vilnius) with six septuagenarian nuns, a Bernardine convent at Slonim with four septuagenarian nuns, a Franciscan monastery at Grodno
with a single friar and in the same city a convent of Brigittine Sisters with two religious.

On October 28, 1925 the old bishopric was promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese, with only two

suffragans: Kaišiadorys and Panevėžys. In 1991–1992 the Polish parts of the old bishopric became separate dioceses, under the new Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Białystok
.

Statistics

In the early 20th century the Roman Catholic diocese of Vilnius had 1,420,000 faithful distributed among 23 rural deaneries as follows:

Deanery Parishes Parishioners
Białystok 20 101,761
Bielsk 20 66,125
Brest 3 14,212
Dzisna 15 66,536
Giedraičiai 13 58,813
Grodno 20 58,116
Kobryn 2 7,925
Lida 14 65,100
Merkinė 20 82,948
Nadwilejski 8 41,053
Ashmyany 11 61,032
Prwjany 7 11,648
Radun 15 83,451
Slonim 7 30,337
Sokółka 14 75,709
Švenčionys 19 93,716
Swir 11 48,266
Trakai 20 88,856
Vilnius (City) 30 churches and chapels 141,104
Vilnius (District) 9 52,690
Vilejka
 10 35,783
Wisniew 15 83,900
Wolkowysk
 16 58,825

Besides the cathedral parish the city of Vilnius contains those of St. John Baptist, the Holy Spirit, St Teresa, Saints Philip and James, St. Raphael the Archangel, St. Francis of Assisi, All Saints, the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. The Catholic population of the city was only 96,000. Dependent upon the parish of St. Teresa is the chapel of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Ostrobrama, the centre of many pilgrimages in Lithuania, and venerated also by the Orthodox; its miraculous image stands upon an arch, and the street which passes under this arch is occupied at all hours of the day by a crowd of prostrate suppliants; anyone passing under the arch – even Hebrews – traditionally uncovers the head in token of reverence.

The secular clergy numbered about 440 priests; the cathedral chapter 5 prelates and 3 canons. The secular clergy are educated in the seminary, which has 15 professors and 160 students when founded in 1582, closed in 1862; reopened in 1872, and had but two students, but their number gradually increased. At Brest there was a

Catholic Theological Academy of St. Petersburg, to the University of Kyiv
(Ukraine) and to the Public Library of Vilnius.

The

Vilnius county population) [1][2][3]

See also

  • Bishops of Vilnius
  • Diocese of Inflanty
  • Roman Catholicism in Lithuania

References

  1. Association of Poles in Lithuania
    .
  2. ^ Association "Polish Community", magwil.lt. Accessed 29 February 2024.
  3. ^ Claims of conflicts between Lithuanian clergy and ethnic Poles, wspolnota-polska.org. Accessed 29 February 2024.

Sources

  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Vilna". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

External links

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