"The church never divides. The church was never divided and stood united in both Lithuania and Poland. The church in Poland worked hard to support the church here in Lithuania. Furthermore, Poland has parishes with Lithuanian believers. The church will always work to preserve unity. Cooperation is our strength, Lithuania needs Poland as support in the West against the East. And Poland needs good neighbors, as well," Dziwisz, former personal secretary to late Pope John Paul II, told Kaunas journalists on Sunday.
Kaunas Archbishop Sigitas Tamkevičius added that Lithuanian and Polish governments could learn good relations from bishops who enjoy outstanding ties.
The Archbishop of Krakow was in Kaunas to attend festivities held at St. Peter and Paul's Cathedral on the occasion of its 600-year anniversary and 20 years since the visit of Pope John Paul II.
In Dziwisz's words, the pope attached great importance to his 1993 visit to the Baltic states.
"Pope John Paul II always thought he should strive for the Lithuanian independence and never agreed to accept Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia as part of the Soviet Union," Dziwisz said.
The Kaunas Cathedral was first mentioned in historical sources in 1413.
