Kaunas Priest Seminary () is the largest seminary in

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 ...

serving the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kaunas The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kaunas () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Lithuania. The episcopal see is in Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania. The archdiocese's Mother Church, mother ...

. It is part of the Faculty of

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Vytautas Magnus University Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) (, 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 as the University of Lithuania, but ...

. Its current rector is Aurelijus Žukauskas. As of 2007, the seminary had 35 students. It traces its history to 1622.

History

The

Diocese of Samogitia The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kaunas () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Lithuania. The episcopal see is in Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania. The archdiocese's motherchurch and cat ...

did not have its own school for priests. Therefore, Bishops of Samogitia sponsored students at the Jesuit Academy in Vilnius, which was established in 1570. In 1622, Bishop Stanisław Kiszka decided to sponsor a separate seminary in

Varniai Varniai (; Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Varnē'') is a city in the Telšiai County, western Lithuania. In the Middle Ages the city was known as Medininkai (Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Medėninkā''). Etymology ''Medininkai'' or ''M ...

, the seat of the diocese. In 1628, the seminary moved to

Kražiai Kražiai (; ; ) is a historic town (Lithuania), town in Lithuania, located in the Kelmė district municipality, between Varniai (32 km) and Raseiniai (44 km), on the River. The old town of Kražiai is an archeological and urban monument ...

where it shared premises with the

Jesuit 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 ...

Kražiai College The Kražiai College () was a Jesuit college (equivalent to a modern secondary school) in Kražiai, Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later Russian Empire. Established in 1616 in hopes to educate new generations of Counter-Reformation, anti-Protestants ...

until 1745. Bishop decided to move the seminary back to Varniai. There he built a brick house dedicated to the seminary's needs. From 1850 to 1862, 333 men were ordained as priests. In 1862, the seminary had 120 students. After the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

of 1863, the seat of Bishop

Motiejus Valančius Motiejus Kazimieras Valančius (; , also known by his pen-name ''Joteika'' and ''Ksiądz Maciek''; 1801–1875) was a Catholic Bishop of Samogitia, historian and one of the best known Lithuanian/Samogitian writers of the 19th century. Biograph ...

was moved from Varniai to

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 ...

on December 3, 1864. The Seminary was offered the monastery of

Cistercians The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

and St. George Church in Kaunas. From 1863 to 1870 the seminary's capacity was limited, since officials of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

did not permit new enrollments. The Kaunas Priest Seminary was one of the centers of the

Lithuanian National Revival The Lithuanian National Revival, alternatively the Lithuanian National Awakening or Lithuanian nationalism (), was a period of the history of Lithuania in the 19th century, when a major part of Lithuanian-inhabited areas belonged to the Russian ...

during the Russification era.

Antanas Baranauskas Antanas Baranauskas (; 17 January 1835 – 26 November 1902) was a Lithuanian poet, mathematician and Catholic bishop of Sejny. Baranauskas is best known as the author of the Lithuanian poem '' Anykščių šilelis''. He used various pen names ...

taught there for some time, initiating lectures using the

Lithuanian language Lithuanian (, ) is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic languages, Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of t ...

. Many of its students were active in Lithuanian

book smuggling Lithuanian book smugglers or Lithuanian book carriers (, singular: ) smuggled Lithuanian language books printed in the Latin alphabet into Lithuanian-speaking areas of the Russian Empire, defying a ban on such materials in force from 1864 to 19 ...

. In 1884 its students began printing ''Lietuva'', a Lithuanian-language newspaper, edited by . Fearing persecution by the Tsarist authorities, seminary leaders closed the newspaper. In 1888 a secret Lithuanian society was established, which was transformed into the St. Casimir Society in 1889. In 1892

Maironis Maironis (born Jonas Mačiulis, ; – 28 June 1932) was a Lithuanians, Lithuanian Roman Catholic priest and the greatest and most-known Lithuanian poet, especially of the period of the Lithuanian press ban. He was called the Bard of Lithuanian Na ...

was appointed a professor there and this move had a major impact on usage of the Lithuanian language. After Maironis left for

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, Adomas Dambrauskas-Jakštas was appointed as the chaplain and continued Maironis' work. In 1909 Maironis was appointed as the rector of the seminary. At that time the seminary was completely Lithuanian. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the seminary moved to Vašuokėnai estate near Troškūnai and the building in Kaunas was converted to a military hospital. Between 1926 and 1940, 3,078 students graduated from the Seminary. After Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union, all other priest seminaries in Lithuania were closed. The number of students was at first limited to 150; the limit gradually decreased to 25. Most of the seminary buildings were confiscated; the Church of the Holy Trinity was turned into a warehouse; a library containing some 90,000 volumes was destroyed; and many priests were

deported to Siberia From 1930 to 1952, the government of the Soviet Union, on the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and under the direction of the NKVD official Lavrentiy Beria, forcibly Population transfer, transferred populations of various groups. These act ...

. Between 1945 and 1981, 428 priests graduated. After Lithuania declared independence in 1990, the seminary reacquired its former buildings, which were restored before the visit of

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in 1993.

Studies

The seminary's current program consists of five years of undergraduate studies beginning with preparatory courses in

Šiluva Šiluva is a small town of less than 700 inhabitants in Lithuania. It is located in the Regions of Lithuania, region of Samogitia. It is List of Catholic pilgrimage sites in Lithuania, a major site of Catholic pilgrimage in Lithuania. History � ...

. Its graduates receive a degree from the

, where they may pursue graduate and post-graduate studies. Its curriculum aims to develop students' spirituality, humanism, and intellectual abilities, and prepare them for pastoral duties.

Rectors

* Hieronim Raczkowski * Gasparas Cirtautas * Antanas Karosas *

Jonas Mačiulis-Maironis Maironis (born Jonas Mačiulis, ; – 28 June 1932) was a Lithuanian Roman Catholic priest and the greatest and most-known Lithuanian poet, especially of the period of the Lithuanian press ban. He was called the Bard of Lithuanian National Reviv ...

References

External links

History on official site
{{authority control Educational institutions established in the 1620s Priest Seminary Catholic seminaries in Lithuania Religion in Kaunas 1622 establishments in Europe History of education in Lithuania