The Military Ordinariate of Lithuania () is a military ordinariate of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Immediately subject to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, it provides

pastoral care ''The Book of Pastoral Rule'' (Latin: ''Liber Regulae Pastoralis'', ''Regula Pastoralis'' or ''Cura Pastoralis'' — sometimes translated into English ''Pastoral Care'') is a treatise on the responsibilities of the clergy written by Pope Greg ...

to Roman Catholics serving in the

Lithuanian Armed Forces The Lithuanian Armed Forces () are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Navy, the Lithuanian Air Force and the Lithuanian Special Operations Force. In wartime, the Li ...

and their families. The military ordinaries have the rights and duties of a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

and participate in the

Lithuanian Bishops' Conference Lithuanian Bishops' Conference () is the official meeting of Catholic bishops in Lithuania. It has its seat in Vilnius. The Episcopal Conference is a member of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) and the Commission of the Bishops ...

Establishment

The relationship between Lithuania and the

was regulated by the Concordat of 1927. The Vatican did not recognize the occupation of Lithuania by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1940 and the concordat remained in effect. 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

and agreed on the establishment of the military ordinariate. This agreement was modelled after the agreement to establish the

Military Ordinariate of Croatia The Military Ordinariate of Croatia () 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 Croatian Armed Forces and their families. History Th ...

in 1997. 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 chaplain A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases, they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term ''cha ...

s. The

Ministry of National Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

provides funding for the ordinariate and the military chaplains. The agreements were ratified and became effective in September 2000. The military ordinariate of Lithuania was established by the

apostolic constitution An apostolic constitution () is the most solemn form of legislation issued by the Pope.New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, pg. 57, footnote 36. By their nature, apostolic constitutions are addressed to the public. Generic constitutions use ...

''Christi discipuli'' issued on 25 November 2000. 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 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

countries and the regulations were adopted in August 2002.

Places of worship

On 23 November 2004 (the day of the Armed Forces of Lithuania), the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

was dedicated to the military ordinariate (it acts as the seat of the

curia Curia (: curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally probably had wider powers, they came to meet ...

and

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

of the ordinariate). Built in the 17th century, the church was neglected during the

Soviet period The history of the Soviet Union (USSR) (1922–91) began with the ideals of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following the Russian Civil War, ...

and underwent extensive renovations in 2001–2004 at a cost of 1.14 million

litas The Lithuanian litas (ISO currency code LTL, symbolized as Lt; plural ''litai'' (nominative) or ''litų'' (genitive) was the currency of Lithuania, until 1 January 2015, when it was replaced by the euro. It was divided into 100 centų (geniti ...

paid by the Ministry of Defence. The dedication ceremony was attended by many officials and dignitaries, including President

Valdas Adamkus Valdas Adamkus (; born Voldemaras Adamkavičius; November 3, 1926) is a Lithuanian politician, diplomat and civil engineer who served as the fifth and seventh president of Lithuania from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2004 to 2009. Adamku ...

, Minister of Defence

Linas Linkevičius Linas is a Lithuanian male given name. It is the Lithuanian form of the name Linus, which derives from the Greek for "flax". The female equivalent is Lina. Linas may refer to: People * Linas Adomaitis (born 1976), Lithuanian musician * Linas Als ...

, cardinal Audrys Juozas Bačkis, papal nuncio

Peter Stephan Zurbriggen Peter Stephan Zurbriggen (27 August 1943 – 28 August 2022) was a Swiss archbishop of the Catholic Church, who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1993 until his retirement in 2018. He was Apostolic Nuncio to Austria fro ...

, and others. In addition the church in Vilnius, the ordinariate also has chapels at the

General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania The General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania (''Generolo Jono Žemaičio Lietuvos karo akademija'') is a state-sponsored institution of higher learning based in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was founded in 1994 by the Lithuanian Seimas, and ...

, at the military bases in

Rukla Rukla is a small town in Kaunas County in central Lithuania. In 2011 it had a population of 2,098. Administrative centre of Rukla Eldership. The national Refugee Reception Centre hosts all refugees coming to the country. Military base Five d ...

and

Tauragė Tauragė (; see #Names and etymology, other names) is an industrial city in Lithuania, and the capital of Tauragė County. In 2020, its population was 20,956. Tauragė is situated on the Jūra, Jūra River, close to the border with the Kaliningr ...

. The military also uses the

Church of St. Michael the Archangel, Kaunas St. Michael the Archangel's Church or the Garrison Church (; ) is a Roman Catholic church in the city of Kaunas, Lithuania, closing the perspective of the Laisvės alėja, the main pedestrian street. It was built between 1891 and 1895 when Kaunas ...

Activities

Military chaplains are both clergymen and military officers (they have

military rank Military ranks is a system of hierarchy, hierarchical relationships within armed forces, police, Intelligence agency, intelligence agencies, paramilitary groups, and other institutions organized along military organisation , military lines, such ...

s, 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. 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. Chaplains also participated in the international military missions, including in Afghanistan. Roman Catholics are the only religious group to provide chaplains to the military. In September 2014, the

Lithuanian Evangelical Reformed Church The Lithuanian Evangelical Reformed Church (; ; ) is a Calvinist denomination in Lithuania which uses a presbyterian polity. History The church was founded on December 14, 1557, during the Synod of Vilnius. The General Synod met annually in Lith ...

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.

Personnel

Military ordinaries

Eugenijus Bartulis Eugenijus Bartulis (born 7 December 1949) is a Lithuanian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the bishop of Šiauliai from 1997 to 2024. Biography Eugenijus Bartulis was born in Kaunas on 7 December 1949. He graduated from secondary sch ...

(appointed on 25 November 2000 – resigned on 19 June 2010) *

Gintaras Grušas Gintaras Grušas (born 23 September 1961) is a Lithuanian Americans, Lithuanian-American Catholic Church, Catholic prelate who has served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vilnius, Archbishop of Vilnius since 2013. He was previously Military Ordin ...

(appointed on 19 June 2010 – named

Archbishop of Vilnius In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

on 5 April 2013)

Chief military chaplains

Alfonsas Svarinskas Alfonsas is a Lithuanian masculine given name. People bearing the name Alfonsas include: *Alfonsas Andriuškevičius (born 1940), Lithuanian poet and art historian *Alfonsas Danys (1924–2014), Lithuanian writer *Alfonsas Dargis (1909–1996), L ...

(1990–1996) * (1996–2000) * (2000–2009) * Saulius Kasmauskas (2009–2010) * Rimas Venckus (acting 2010–2011, permanent since 2011)

References

External links

*
Agreement between the Holy See and the Republic of Lithuania
(Vatican website) {{authority control

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 ...

Roman Catholic churches in Lithuania 2000 establishments in Lithuania Military of Lithuania Military Ordinary of Lithuania