Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania (No. 28)
Etta information service of the Supreme Committee For Liberation of Lithuania February 1978
(exerpt)
Many of the emigre Lithuanians, who «are united and determined in defending the rights of their enslaved fatherland,» have difficulties in orienting themselves about the complex issues of Lithuania’s religious life.» Some think that «all religious questions, including even the secret activity of the believers, can be resolved by local Ordinaries. They forget that many of these Ordinaries work under various strictures, while the believers do not dare to approach some of them.» Others are «unable to understand how 70 percent of the children in Lithuania could have been imprisoned for teaching catechism. They have no idea how widespread is the teaching of catechism in catacomb fashion conducted by priests and believers who are not afraid of administrative fines or prison.»
The emigres have a «difficult time in distinguishing which persons can be trusted and which cannot’. They simply cannot conceive how many people in Lithuania have been recruited by the KGB and are now misleading individuals and the public opinion… Our neighbors, the bishops and believers of Socialist Germany and Poland, also admit that they find it difficult to understand us…»
«The situation is aggravated by the clever fraud practised by the enemies of our faith and nation… What is worst is that clergymen of various ranks, be it under compulsion, contribute to this misinformation. Some of them carefully follow the atheists’ instructions even during their trips to the Vatican and spread false information there…»
There follows a survey of methods used to «destroy the Russian Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union» and to the problems facing the Roman Catholic Church in Lithuania. «The hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church lost its authority in the eyes of the clergy and of the believers by … praising the Soviet regime, by misleading the public opinion of the world about the so-called freedom of religion in the USSR and by the agreeing to collaborate with the KGB… Many of the Russian Orthodox priests have had little education and… have succumbed to alcoholism and materialism… Therefore the number of conscious believers in Russia is small.»
«A part of the Russian Orthodox believers do not head the restrictions of their hierarchies and courageously proclaim the Gospel of Christ… They are respected by the believers., and the future of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union depends on them.»
«The same methods» are used to destroy the Catholic Church. In Russia itself, the «Catholic faith is doomed to perish unless an underground activity is developed there.» The situation is «somewhat better» in other parts of the Soviet Union, especially among German, and in part, Poles. The Church faces an «especially difficult» situation in Belorussia, where the Catholic faith is persecuted as nowhere else. «The Theological Seminary of Kaunas does not accept candidates from Belorussia and the Ukraine, since it is afraid that the KGB… might send its agents.» The «persecution of the Church here goes hand in hand with the denationalization of Belorussia.»
The situation of the Roman Catholics in the Ukraine is similar to that in Belorussia. Pastoral work here is «very much harmed by the national hatred between Ukrainians and Poles.» Even «more difficult» is the situation of the Catholics of the eastern rite. They feel «very uneasy about what seems to them a «too close a friendship between the Roman Catholics and the Patriarchate of Moscow, while they do not receive much support for their own cause. But the Catholic Church of the eastern rite in the Ukraine is very active in the underground. «Local KGB people are of the opinion that each section of the city of Lviv (Lvov) has its own priest of the eastern rite.»
As for Latvia, since 1940 the Soviet government has charged the Archbishop of Riga with taking care of all the Catholics in the Soviet Union. But the Latvian bishops are fulfilling their duty only in part. Religious life among Latvian Catholics is rather weak; the restrictive demands of the atheistic regime are duly obeyed. Most of the Latvian convents «fail to teach catechism to children» or to join in the «pastoral work.» They say that they have «received instruction from the Center — to pray and to wait.»
The situation of the Catholic Church is better in Tadzhikistan, Kazakhstan and other republics with large numbers of German and Polish Catholics. An extensive underground activity has been developed. «Faith is especially alive in the area which benefitted from the visits of priests who were former prisoners and deportees.» T. A. Seskevicius is one of them — «in many homes of Germans in Asia his portrait hangs next to the pictures of saints.»
There are rumors that the Soviet regime has «new plans» for the destruction of the Catholic Chruch.» In return for «certain concessions» they are now giving to the Apostolic See, they want the establishment of a «center of the Catholic Church.» … in Moscow. Headed by a clergyman with a cardinal’s title who would be «devoted to the government,» the center would be in charge of all the Roman Catholic dioceses in the Soviet Union. This would be a «first step toward a schism.» Some Russian Orthodox clergymen are already saying that the Catholics in the Soveit Union should «renounce the Holy Father in Rome.» The Patriarch of Moscow» would be able to represent them.»
«We find it difficult to understand the recent so-called Ostpolitik. in our opinion, it has greatly hurt the Church in Eastern Europe. We hears such arguments:
«In our opinion, it is not diplomatic efforts which keep them from atrocities, but the necessity of reckoning with the might of powerful states, world and national public opinion, and fear of a New Nuremberg trial.
«The Catholics of Eastern Europe are impressed by a bold defense of the Faith. If the Catholics of Lithuania can be defended by non-Catholics and even persons of atheistic persuasion, like Academician Andrei Sacharov or Sergei Kovalev, at the risk of their freedom, then all the more do we expect a world of intercession from our brethren the Catholic bishops and faithful of other lands…
«One gets the impression that Catholics, unwilling to spoil relations with the atheists in Moscow, have chosen the tactic of silence. One bishop of Lithuania, upon his return from Rome asserted that the Holy Father, in an audience, advised the faithful of the Soviet Union: ‘Pray and wait quietly and patiently.’
«In our country, the soul of the apostolate is alive, thirsting to spread the Catholic Faith throughout a vast land which has been subjected to atheism. The Catholic Church is working effectively in catacomb fashion: An underground press is flourishing, catechization is going on a broad scale, in spite of all kinds of sacrifices, and religious communities exist. There is no lack of responsible officials or even members of the Communist Party who, although secretly, hold the Faith. On their death-bed, they ask to be buried with the Catholic liturgy…
«The Catholic Church in Lithuania is operating on two levels: overtly and covertly. Forced to operate entirely in catacomb fashion are all religious communities of men and women; young men secretly preparing for ordination to the priesthood, almost all students and various officials who are afraid to be seen in church or to receive the sacraments, in order not to suffer for it.
«A significant number of priests operating with official approval are forced also to operate in catacomb style: preparing children for First Communion or Confirmation, visiting patients in hospitals where the priest is not admitted by the medical staff, and witnessing the marriages of officials.
«The Catholic Church is operating in exclusively catacomb fashion or semicatacomb fashion in broad areas of Russia. It is able to operate because it ignores the restrictions of the atheists. Such activity is quite difficult, since it is bitterly persecuted by the atheists. However, it is difficult to squelch, when properly organized. The Church operating overtly can be destroyed in a moment by the atheists, by closing churches and arresting bishops and priests.
«However, it is very difficult to subdue the Church of the Catacombs, since they are unable to keep track of its activities. The Church operating in catacomb conditions does not interfere with the local Church operating overtly.it does not try to disrupt its discipline or to split it, but tries as much as possible to complement its work. As much as possible, it upholds the authority of the ruler of the diocese, tries to win the conditions necessary in order to operate more freely, defends the rulers of dioceses from government persecution and pressure, and blocks misleading statements emanating from them.
«As for the relationship of the Church of the Catacombs with the atheistic government, the government is quite unhappy about the activity of the Church of the Catacombs, because it is unable to control it. While the Church operating in the open has certain privileges, the Church of the Catacombs is persecuted. Therefore priests and religious operating clandestinely are termed agents of the Vatican and foreign spies.
«As a rule, they do not honor their promises o their agreements. The pronouncement of the new bishop of Hungary and Czechoslovakia give us no joy. The atheists threaten that, if their demands are not met, if the activities of the zealous Catholics are not restricted, a new bloody persecution of the faithful could break out, such as took place from 1917 to 1923, and from 1930 to 1938. We do not feel threatened by bloody persecution so much as by the slow, silent strangulation throttling the Church with its own hands.
«2. In a suitable manner to request the Holy See:
«c) To request the Holy Father not to appoint bishops and not to confer titles of honor on individuals who have compromised themselves morally’ and politically. Not to trust the recommendations of those who have already misled the Apostolic See;
«e) To exert efforts that the faithful of Belorussia and the Ukraine might obtain the right to open their own seminary;
«f) to try to see that churches be opened and priests assigned to them, at least in the larger cities of the Soviet Union, such as Kiev, Minsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnojarsk, Omsk, Tomsk, etc.; to promulgate pastoral directives, for radio broadcasts by the Holy See, urging the evangelization of the Soviet Union, effective from the day of announcement; warn that local ordinaries would not have the right to restrict their carrying out. To grant the right of hearing of confessions to priests in good standing, without regard to diocesan boundaries, in private homes and apartments, not only of the laity, but also of religious sisters.
«Decree No. 7. «Christus Dominus,» of the Second Vatican Council, urges the bishops and the entire world to show particular love and concern for those priests who suffer various persecutions for Christ. It urges them to assist them by prayer and support. Moreover, it urges all the faithful, especially those in higher positions, bodily to defend the faithful who are being persecuted (Cf. Gaudium et Spes, Art. 75.) We are waiting for these decrees to be zealously put into practice. The Helsinki Accords created favorable conditions for defending the faithful repressed and persecuted throughout the world, and especially in the Soviet Union.
«This appeal has been drafted after appealing to the Holy Spirit for light, and listening to the opinions of many priests, religious and laity, of Lithuania. We trust that our brother Lithuanians overseas, the faithful of the entire world and people of good will, will help us as they can. We will ask the Most High that our cry for help be heard.»
