Juozapas Skvireckas (1873–1959) was 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 archbishop of Kaunas (1926–1959). In 1911–1937 he translated the Bible into the Lithuanian language; it was published in six volumes by the

Society of Saint Casimir The Society of Saint Casimir ( lt, Šv. Kazimiero draugija) was a Lithuanian society that published Lithuanian-language books and periodicals, many on Roman Catholic church and faith. Established in 1905, right after the Lithuanian press ban was l ...

. During the

occupation of the Baltic States The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were invaded and occupied in June 1940 by the Soviet Union, under the leadership of Stalin and auspices of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact that had been signed between Nazi Germany and the Soviet ...

by the Nazis, Skvireckas and his assistant, bishop Vincentas Brizgys, welcomed the Nazis. Skvireckas would provide chaplains for Lithuanian-manned Nazi auxiliary units. In later years however Skvireckas issued multiple protests to Nazi authorities regarding the conditions of the

Catholic church in Lithuania The Catholic Church in Lithuania is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. In 2000, there were two million Catholics, which was then 79% of the total population. According to the 2021 census, ...

. He also sent reports to Vatican and since 1942 started receiving instructions from papal office. In 1944, Skvireckas, Brizgys and over 200 other Lithuanian clergymen left Kaunas with retreating German forces, and went into

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

. He would settle in Austria, where he died in 1959.Piotrowski
p. 350
/ref> After his death, the post of an (arch)bishop of Kaunas was vacant until 1989.

References

THE ARCHDIOCESE OF KAUNAS

by Arūnas Streikus, "Kauno Arkivyskupijos Naujienos", No. 3, winter of 1999
Church Institution during the Period of Nazi Occupation in Lithuania
*Archbishop Skvireckas's diary, 1941 m. Birželio sukilimas (collection documents), ed. V. Brandišauskas, Vilnius, 2000 *Vilma Narkutė, ''The Confrontation Between the Lithuanian Catholic Church and the Soviet Regime'', New Blackfriars, Volume 87 Issue 1011, pages 456–475, 2006 1873 births 1959 deaths People from Pasvalys District Municipality People from Kovno Governorate Archbishops of Kaunas 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Lithuania Lithuanian collaborators with Nazi Germany Translators of the Bible into Lithuanian {{RC-archbishop-stub

References

Further reading