Archbishop Lionginas Virbalas, S.J. (born 6 July 1961) is a Lithuanian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the Archbishop of the

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

from 11 June 2015 until 1 March 2019. He was Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Panevėžys from 6 June 2013 until 11 June 2015.

Life

Virbalas was born on 6 July 1961 in

Biržai Biržai (, also known by several alternative names) is a city in northern Lithuania. Famous for its reconstructed Biržai Castle manor, the whole region is renowned for its many traditional-recipe beer breweries. Name The exact origin of th ...

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was '' de facto'' one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944–1990. After 1946, its terr ...

, present day

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

), in the Diocese of Panevėžys. After graduating from the local school, he studied at the

Vilnius Civil Engineering Institute Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VILNIUS TECH) is a public university located in Vilnius, Lithuania. There are 10 faculties including Antanas Gustaitis Aviation Institute, Architecture, Business Management, Civil Engineering, Creative ...

(1979–1981). He interrupted his studies to fulfill his compulsory service requirement in the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

from 1981 to 1983. In 1983 he entered the Inter-Diocesan Theological Seminary in Kaunas, which was soon closed by the Soviet authorities. He then studied theology clandestinely and in 1986 entered the Theological Seminary and then the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

in 1989. He was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

on 30 May 1991, after completed his philosophical and theological studies. He made his solemn

profession A profession is a field of Work (human activity), work that has been successfully professionalized. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, professionals, who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are ...

as a Jesuit on 27 September 2003. In 1992 Virbalas continued his studies in Italy and earned a licentiate degree at the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

in 1994. He then fulfilled assignments as professor in the Theological Seminary and University, Rector of the Church of St. Francis Xavier, Kaunas (1995–1997), Rector of the Church of St. Casimir, Vilnius (1998–2005, 2008–2010), and Rector of the Pontifical Collegium Russicum in Rome (2010–2013). On 6 June 2013,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

appointed him Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Panevėžys, and on 30 August 2013 he was consecrated a bishop by Cardinal Audrys Bačkis. On 11 June 2015, Pope Francis appointed him Archbishop of

. Beginning on 28 October 2014, he was a Vice-President of the Episcopal Conference of Lithuania. On 1 March 2019 Pope Francis accepted his resignation as Archbishop of Kaunas, which Virbalas had submitted because of health problems. He said he was returning to the exercise of his priestly mission.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Virbalas, Lionginas 1961 births Living people People from Biržai Jesuit archbishops 20th-century Lithuanian Jesuits 21st-century Lithuanian Roman Catholic priests Pontifical Gregorian University alumni 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Lithuania Archbishops of Kaunas Bishops appointed by Pope Francis