Archbishop Lionginas Virbalas, S.J. (born 6 July 1961) is a Lithuanian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the Archbishop of the

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

from 11 June 2015 until 1 March 2019. He was Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Panevėžys The Roman Catholic Diocese of Panevėžys ( la, Panevezen(sis)) is a diocese located in the city of Panevėžys in the Ecclesiastical province of Vilnius in Lithuania. It was established on April 4, 1926 from the Diocese of Samogitia. The Chris ...

from 6 June 2013 until 11 June 2015.

Life

Virbalas was born on 6 July 1961 in

Biržai Biržai (, known also by several #Names, alternative names) is a town in northern Lithuania. Biržai is famous for its reconstructed Biržai Castle Manor house, manor, and the whole region is renowned for its many traditional-recipe beer brewerie ...

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...

, present day

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 ...

), in the

Diocese of Panevėžys In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. After graduating from the local school, he studied at the

Vilnius Civil Engineering Institute Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VILNIUS TECH) is a public university located in Vilnius, Lithuania. There are 10 faculties including Antanas Gustaitis Aviation Institute, Architecture, Business Management, Civil Engineering, Creative I ...

(1979–1981). He interrupted his studies to fulfill his compulsory service requirement in the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

from 1981 to 1983. In 1983 he entered the Inter-Diocesan Theological Seminary in Kaunas, which was soon closed by the Soviet authorities. He then studied theology clandestinely and in 1986 entered the Theological Seminary and then the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

in 1989. He was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

on 30 May 1991, after completed his philosophical and theological studies. He made his solemn

profession A profession is a field of work that has been successfully ''professionalized''. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, '' professionals'', who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by ...

as a Jesuit on 27 September 2003. In 1992 Virbalas continued his studies in Italy and earned a licentiate degree at the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

in 1994. He then fulfilled assignments as professor in the Theological Seminary and University, Rector of the

Church of St. Francis Xavier, Kaunas The Church of St. Francis Xavier ( lt, Šv. Pranciškaus Ksavero bažnyčia) is located in the Old Town (Kaunas), Old Town of Kaunas, Lithuania. The church, dedicated to St. Francis Xavier, was built in the Town Hall, Kaunas, Town Hall Square in t ...

(1995–1997), Rector of the Church of St. Casimir, Vilnius (1998–2005, 2008–2010), and Rector of the Pontifical Collegium Russicum in Rome (2010–2013). On 6 June 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 Bishop of the

, and on 30 August 2013 he was consecrated a bishop by Cardinal

Audrys Bačkis Audrys Juozas Bačkis (born 1 February 1937) is a Lithuanian prelate of the Catholic Church, a cardinal since 2001. He worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1964 to 1991, when he became Archbishop of Vilnius. He retired in 2013. ...

. On 11 June 2015, Pope Francis appointed him Archbishop of

. Beginning on 28 October 2014, he was a Vice-President 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) ...

. On 1 March 2019 Pope Francis accepted his resignation as Archbishop of Kaunas, which Virbalas had submitted because of health problems. He said he was returning to the exercise of his priestly mission.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Virbalas, Lionginas 1961 births Living people People from Biržai Jesuit archbishops 20th-century Lithuanian Jesuits Pontifical Gregorian University alumni 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Lithuania Archbishops of Kaunas Bishops appointed by Pope Francis