Prenumeratoriai žino daugiau. Prenumerata vos nuo 1,00 Eur!
Išbandyti
2012 04 16

Lithuania publishes KGB documents on persecution of Catholic Church

The Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania has published documents on the KGB's actions against the Catholic Church during the period of the Soviet occupation.
Dūkštų Šv. Onos bažnyčia
Dūkštų Šv. Onos bažnyčia / R.Paulauskaitės nuotr.

36 documents, mostly related to anti-Church policy, ideological counter-intelligence and repressions during the Soviet times, were published on the website kgbveikla.lt. The documents include information on the KGB's operational activities, including arrests and criminal prosecution.

Among the documents, there's a report by the then Deputy Head of the KGB's Interrogation Unit on "evidence of criminal activities" by incumbent Kaunas Archbiship Sigitas Tamkevičius, priest Alfonsas Svarinskas and Panevėžys Bishop Jonas Kauneckas.

"Tamkevičius, Svarinskas and Kauneskas have systematically given openly hostile sermons during burial or religious ceremonies in various churches of the republic, defaming the Soviet public and state order, inviting worshipers to ignore Soviet laws on the separation of Church and State, activities of religious communities, and aiming to incite hostility towards atheists by identifying them with the Soviet government," the KGB officer wrote in his report.

Moreover, illegal publications and recordings of "defaming sermons" were also found in the clergymen's houses during searches.

In June 2010, the Lithuanian parliament adopted amendments to the Law on Lustration, authorizing the Genocide and Resistance Research Center to publish KGB documents and thus complete the lustration process. The kgbveikla.lt website was launched in late January for the publication of KGB documents.

In February, the Genocide and Resistance Research Center published a list of former KGB reserve officers, which contains 238 names.

Report mistake

Successfully sent

Thank you

Economy

Lithuanian producers of EPS on the way to circular economy
Gilužio Rivjera by the real estate company Homa – hundreds of apartments and millions in investment
Capitalica fund successfully issued bonds amounting to EUR 5 million to finance the Verde project in Riga

Feature

State Progress Strategy 'Lithuania 2050': will Lithuania become the 'Silicon Valley' of social enterprise?
Citus Experts: Planning to Furbish or Brush Up your Home Interior? Get Ready for a Brutal Run
How do the country's most desirable employers nurture IT talents?

Opinion

Ramūnas Vilpišauskas. The president’s achievements in Brussels were modest
Laurynas Jonavičius. Will the new German government’s foreign policy coincide with Lithuanian interests?
Eastern Partnership ‘beyond westlessness’: a new momentum for the European integration

Politics

Taiwanese Minister Ming-hsin Kung – about Lithuania’s strengths and the two countries’ looming plans
The double standards of “values-based policy”: Lithuania did not join the condemnation of Turkey
Behind the scenes of ambassadorial appointments: Seimas looking for clarification on continuing questioning at the Presidential Palace