March 19 52 years have passed since the first issue of the Chronicle of the Catholic Church of Lithuania appeared. It was an important underground publication published in Lithuania in 1972-1989. and informing the world society about the real situation of the church and believers in Lithuania.
in 2024 March 17 In Simne, Alytus district, the 52nd anniversary of the underground publication Lithuanian Catholic Church Chronicle (LKBK) was solemnly celebrated. It was in this remote town of Dzūkija that the first issue of LKBK was published on the initiative of HE Cardinal Sigitas Tamkevičius.
At noon in Simno St. In the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, for the publishers and distributors of the Lithuanian Catholic Church Chronicle, St. Mass. They were donated by HE Cardinal Sigitas Tamkevičius.
The event was attended by Member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania Kęstutis Mažeika, Director General of the Genocide and Resistance Research Center of the Lithuanian Population Dr. Arūnas Bubnys, heads of the Alytus district municipality, residents of the district.
After St. Head of Mass. LGGRTC dr. A. Bubnys was invited to review the most important reasons for the emergence of the Chronicle of the Catholic Church of Lithuania and to assess its importance in the history of Lithuania.
“2022 was declared by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania as the Year of the Chronicle of the Catholic Church of Lithuania. On that occasion, the Genocide and Resistance Center of the Lithuanian population carried out various works to commemorate this significant anniversary. We prepared an exhibition about the LKBK path, which traveled around the churches, museums and other spaces of our country, and organized scientific conferences. We also decided that one of these works could be the making of a memorial plaque on the wall of the Simno rectory building. This is a mark of respect from all of us to the contributors of this underground publication that spread the word of truth,” said LGGRTC head Dr. A. Bubnys.
“The Soviet regime, realizing the authority of the Catholic Church in Lithuanian society, tried to turn it into a tool loyal to the regime. Mechanisms were being created that were supposed to ensure the control of the activities of the Catholic Church and its restraint. This goal was achieved by closing churches and monasteries and reducing the number of priests. Clergy who opposed the totalitarian policies of the Soviet regime suffered persecution and repression. During the Stalinist period, 364 Catholic priests and 4 bishops were repressed in Lithuania. in 1946 Bishop Vincentas Borisevičius was sentenced to death and shot in the internal Soviet security prison in Vilnius. in 1953 “Archbishop Mečislovas Reinys died in the Vladimir prison”, said LGGRTC head, historian dr. A. Bubnys.
According to the whistleblower, the Chronicle published facts about the efforts of the Soviet authorities to crack down on its publishers and distributors. Printed reports about the searches of the houses of Kronika publishers and distributors, their interrogations, trials. Information about the persecution of dissidents in Lithuania and the Soviet Union and the situation of Catholics in the Soviet Union was also made public. With the help of the chronicle publishers, the facts about the tragic death of the resister Mindaugas Tamonis, priests Broniaus Laurinavičius and Juozas Zdebskis, linked to the Soviet repressive structures, have been made public in Lithuania and the world. The chronicle included lists of the names of political prisoners – priests and laymen – imprisoned in the camps at the time and called for them to be remembered. The content of the chronicle reflected the fierce ideological persecution carried out by the Soviet authorities, destroyed the propaganda myth about the humanity of the communist system and the alleged freedom of the Church in the Soviet Union. One of the essential goals of the publishers of the Chronicle of the Catholic Church of Lithuania was to transfer the publication to the free West so that the news about the violations of the rights of believers in the Soviet Union would spread throughout the world. Having secretly reached the West, the Chronicle was actively printed and distributed, and with the help of radio stations of the free world, it was also broadcast in occupied Lithuania.
LKBK in Western media and politics
The head of the Center for the Study of Religion and Communism in the United Kingdom, popularly known as Keston College, Fr. Michael Bourdeaux has written about the importance of the Chronicle and urged his and other countries’ mass media to disseminate as widely as possible the news it publishes, which reveal accurate, carefully verified and documented facts. Leader of the Lithuanian Catholic religious aid in New York, former director of the radio and television service of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Fr. K. Pugevičius translated the Chronicle into English and distributed it in separate issues to the target audience, which consisted of political, religious, academic, public and other leaders who write, comment on or defend human rights on an international scale. Translations of the Chronicle were also placed on the table of Pope John Paul 11.
Based on the knowledge of Kronika and other underground press sources, the Lithuanian Information Center (LIC) in New York, led by G. Damušytė, prepared and distributed press releases in English to the most influential editorial offices and correspondents of mass media. The US Catholic news agency Catholic News Service consistently printed LIC messages that reached millions of readers through regional newspapers.
The Lithuanian Catholic magazine “Aidai” was published in the USA already in 1976. wrote: “If someone were to collect Austrian, Swiss, Italian, French, German, English, Brazilian press clippings today, which recount the facts published by “Kronikos”, then a whole series of thick volumes would already be formed, in front of which the source itself, the painfully modest “LKB Kronikos” fibers – it would look like a dwarf against a giant.”
The chronicle’s information was also relied on by foreign states that, during the Cold War, stood up against the natural human rights and basic freedoms restricted by totalitarian regimes in international organizations. The European Security and Cooperation Conference, established in Helsinki in 1973 as a platform for dialogue between East and West, provided an opportunity to further inform the international community about the restrictions on the rights of Lithuanian believers and the cause of Lithuanian freedom. At the time, 35 countries took part in the conference – all Western European countries, the USA, Canada and the Soviet Union with its five satellites, as well as communist Yugoslavia. Due to the human rights and basic freedoms set forth in the Helsinki Final Act, Lithuanians in the diaspora began to rely more and more on it in order to realize human rights and liberate Lithuania. In Lithuania, after the Helsinki meeting, resistance to the persecution of the Catholic Church became more visible and well-known.
Cardinal Sigitas Tamkevičius shared his memories about the preparation and secret distribution of the underground publication.
The event was organized by the parish priest of Simnos, priest Raimundas Žukauskas.
Photos of LGGRTC employees and S. Sejavičienė
#Simne #victory #truth #word
– 2024-03-29 02:31:21
