Gintaras Grušas (born 23 September 1961) is a

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), 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. Lithuania ...

n–American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. A bishop since 2010, he has been the archbishop of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

, since April 2013.

Biography

Grušas was born in Washington, D.C., on 23 September 1961. His parents had reunited only a year earlier after 16 years apart when his mother was able to leave the Soviet Union and join his father in the United States. The family relocated to California and raised their son in

Agoura Agoura Hills () is a city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Its population was 20,330 at the 2010 census, which decreased to 20,299 in 2020. It is in the eastern Conejo Valley between the ...

. He earned a BS degree in Mathematics and Information Science at the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

(UCLA). He spent five years working as a technical consultant in marketing for IBM, which, he said, helped prepare him for the management and project-planning skills that a pastor needs. Grušas began his preparation for the priesthood at the

Franciscan University of Steubenville Franciscan University of Steubenville is a private Franciscan university in Steubenville, Ohio. The university had 3,040 students as of fall 2019, including 2,317 students on campus, in 40 undergraduate and 8 graduate degree programs. The studen ...

in Steubenville, Ohio. He then earned a

Bachelor of Sacred Theology The Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus; abbreviated STB), not to be confused with a Bachelor of Arts in Theology, is the first of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the second being the Licentiate in Sacred ...

degree at the

Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the Christian liturgy, liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal (liturgy), ordinal for the ordination and consecration of dea ...

(''Angelicum'') in 1994. He was ordained a priest on 25 June 1994. After his ordination he worked as secretary-general of the

Episcopal Conference of Lithuania Lithuanian Bishops' Conference ( lt, Lietuvos vyskupų konferencija) 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) ...

until 1997. He earned a

Licentiate of Canon Law Licentiate of Canon Law ( la, Juris Canonici Licentiatus; JCL) is the title of an advanced graduate degree with canonical effects in the Roman Catholic Church offered by pontifical universities and ecclesiastical faculties of canon law. Licentiate ...

in 1999 and a Doctorate of Canon Law in 2001 from the ''Angelicum''. From 2001 to 2003 he was rector of the seminary in Vilnius. On 2 July 2010,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

named him Military Ordinary of Lithuania and he was consecrated a bishop on 4 September. On 5 April 2013,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

appointed him Archbishop of Vilnius to succeed Cardinal Audrys Juozas Bačkis. He was installed there on 23 April 2013. On 9 June 2014 he was named a member of the

Congregation for the Clergy The Dicastery for the Clergy, formerly named Congregation for the Clergy (; formerly the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy and Sacred Congregation of the Council), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible for overseeing matters regardin ...

and on 13 July 2016 of the

Secretariat for Communications The Dicastery for Communication ( it, Dicastero per la Comunicazione) is a division (dicastery) of the Roman Curia with authority over all communication offices of the Holy See and the Vatican City State. Its various offices can be accessed thro ...

. He was elected president of the Episcopal Conference of Lithuania on 28 October 2014. On 26 September 2021, he was elected President of the

Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe The Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe ( la, Consilium Conferentiarum Episcoporum Europae;,CCEE) is a conference of the presidents of the 33 Roman Catholic episcopal conferences of Europe, the Archbishop of Luxembourg, the Archbishop ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grusas, Gintaras Living people 1961 births 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Lithuania Roman Catholic archbishops of Vilnius University of California, Los Angeles alumni Franciscan University of Steubenville alumni Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni Members of the Congregation for the Clergy