Juozas Žemaitis, M.I.C., (30 August 1926 – 5 October 2021) was a Lithuanian

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

and member of the

Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception The Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary () is a Catholic male Clergy, clerical religious congregation founded, 1670, in Poland. It is also known as Marians of the Immaculate Conception. Its ...

. He served as the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Vilkaviškis from 1991 until his retirement in October 2002. Žemaitis was born on 30 August 1926 in Sparviniai,

Šakiai District Municipality Šakiai () is a city in the Marijampolė County, Lithuania. It is located west of Kaunas. History It is presumed that Šakiai first expanded from ''Šakaičai'' village, which was first mentioned in 1599. In 1719 Šakaičiai was renamed to Šaki ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. He was ordained as a Catholic priest on 25 September 1949. Bishop emeritus Juozas Žemaitis died in

Marijampolė Marijampolė (; also known by Marijampolė#Names, several other names) is the Capital city, capital of Marijampolė County in the south of Lithuania, bordering Poland and Russian Kaliningrad Oblast, and Lake Vištytis. The city's population stood ...

. on 5 October 2021, at the age of 95. He was buried in the crypt of St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Cathedral in Marijampolė on 8 October 2021.

References

1926 births 2021 deaths Lithuanian Roman Catholic bishops Recipients of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II People from Marijampolė {{Lithuania-RC-bishop-stub