The Lithuanian Catholic Federation "Ateitis" (literally: ''future'') is a youth organization in

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

uniting Catholic-minded schoolchildren, university students, and alumni. Ateitis is a member of the umbrella of Catholic youth organizations

Fimcap The FIMCAP, which is short for Fédération Internationale des Mouvements Catholiques d’Action Paroissiale (French for "International Federation of Catholic Parochial Youth Movements"), is an umbrella organization for Catholic youth organizati ...

. Members of the Ateitis Federation are known as ateitininkai.

Name and aims

The aim of Ateitis is the integral development of young people enabling them to be effective apostles of Christ and creative agents capable of changing society according to Christian values.Homepage of Ateitis: Mission and Vision
/ref> For historical reasons another central aim is to preserve the national heritage and culture of

. The five principles of Ateitis are: Catholicism, community spirit, social responsibility, education and patriotism.Homepage from KjG: Ateitis from Lithuania
/ref> The motto of Ateitis is ''To Renew All Things in Christ'' ( la, Omnia Instaurare in Christo, lt, Atkurti Viską Kristuje).

History

Ateitis was founded on Feb. 19, 1910 as a secret student organization in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Traka ...

, Lithuania, then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

. It gained its name from '' Ateitis'' magazine. After Lithuania gained its independence in 1918 and during the period between the two World Wars, the organization grew significantly and gained social and cultural influence in the Lithuanian society. Several famous Lithuanian writers, philosophers, historians, and politicians were members of the organization. In the 1930s the authoritarian nationalist regime of President

Antanas Smetona Antanas Smetona (; 10 August 1874 – 9 January 1944) was a Lithuanian intellectual and journalist and the first President of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1926 to 1940, before its occupation by the Soviet Union. He was one of the ...

made it illegal to join Ateitis during the high school in order to slow down the growth of the organization, as many members of Ateitis later on had become leaders of the oppositional Christian Democratic Party. During the occupation of Lithuania by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

between 1945 and 1990, no Catholic organizations were allowed in Lithuania. The organization, however, continued to function in exile outside of Lithuania; for example, in North America. To this day, the Ateitis Foundation maintains a center in

Lemont, Illinois Lemont is a village located in Cook, DuPage, and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, and is a south-west suburb of Chicago. The population was 17,629 as of the 2020 census. The village is situated on a hillside along the south banks of ...

. After Lithuania regained its independence in 1990, Ateitis could return to Lithuania as an official youth organization. Due to the lengthy occupation, preserving the Lithuanian national heritage and culture has become a central element of the work and identity of Ateitis. Ateitis is member of the international umbrella of Catholic youth organizations

since the General Assembly in Ghana in 2001. The first contact between Fimcap and Ateitis took place in Kehl, Germany, in 1999 during the Eurocontact seminar of Fimcap. After that, contacts between Fimcap and Ateitis became more frequent, ties grew stronger and this finally resulted in Ateitis being a full member of Fimcap.

Notable members

* Vaclovas Aliulis (1921-2015): priest *

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(1923–2013): Lithuanian surgeon and politician, member of the

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(born 1959): dissident and politician, member of the Seimas *

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(1907–2002): poet *

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(1886–1942): university professor and politician,

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* Vytautas Dudėnas (born 1937): investment banker and politician *

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(born 1938): Bishop of Panevėžys * Salomėja Nėris (1904–1945): poet *

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(born 1935): politician, member of the Seimas, vice-president of the Seimas *

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(born 1966): auxiliary bishop of Vilnius *

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(1885–1969):

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SJ (born 1938): Archbishop of Kaunas * Egidijus Vareikis (born 1958): chemist, political scientist, and politician * Arvydas Petras Žygas (1958–2011): priest, professor of anthropology at the

Vytautas Magnus University Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) ( lt, Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas (VDU)) is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the interwar period as an alternate national university. Initially it was known ...

in Kaunas

References

{{Authority control Catholic youth organizations Youth organizations based in Lithuania Youth organizations established in 1910 1910 establishments in Lithuania Organizations based in Kaunas Fimcap Catholicism in Lithuania Clubs and societies in Lithuania