Jānis Pujats (born 14 November 1930) is a Latvian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Riga from 1991 to 2010. He was secretly made a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

in 1998.

Biography

Pujats was born in Nautrēni parish in

Latgale Latgale (; ; ; ; ; ; Belarusian Latin alphabet, Belarusian Latin: ''Łathalija''; ), also known as Latgalia or Latgallia, is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. It is the easternmost region of the country and lies north of the Daugava River. Wh ...

. He attended the Theological Seminary in Riga until it was closed by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1951. Two months later, he was ordained in a secret ceremony by Archbishop

Antonijs Springovičs Antonijs Springovičs (1 November 1876 – 1 October 1958) was a Latvian Roman Catholic prelate who became the first Archbishop of Riga in 1923. Early years Springovičs was born on 31 October 1876 in Rēzekne. In 1897, he joined the seminary i ...

. During the pontificate of

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

, he implemented the Pope's

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

reform and published the first

missal A missal is a liturgical book containing instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the liturgical year. Versions differ across liturgical tradition, period, and purpose, with some missals intended to enable a priest ...

in Latvian. Pujats was made Archbishop of Riga in 1991. On 21 February 1998, he was made a cardinal ''

in pectore (Latin for 'in the breast/heart') is a term used in the Catholic Church for an action, decision, or document which is meant to be kept secret. It is most often used when there is a papal appointment to the College of Cardinals without a public ...

'' by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

, a fact made public at the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

of 21 February 2001. He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the

2005 papal conclave A papal conclave was held on 18 and 19 April 2005 to elect a new pope to succeed John Paul II, who had died on 2 April 2005. Of the 117 eligible cardinal electors, all but two attended. On the fourth ballot, the conclave elected Cardinal Josep ...

that elected

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

. He speaks Russian, Polish, Lithuanian, German and Latin, in addition to his native Latvian. He was the only member of the Synod of Bishops to address the assembly exclusively in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

at the 2001 and 2005 meetings. Pope Benedict accepted his resignation on 19 June 2010 and appointed

Zbigņevs Stankevičs Zbigņevs Stankevičs (; born 15 February 1955) is a Latvian Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Riga since 2010. He previously served in leadership at the Seminary Institute of Religious Sciences in Riga. Ecclesiastical career ...

to succeed him in Riga.

Views

Condemnation of homosexuality

In a May 2007 open letter protesting a

gay pride In the context of LGBTQ culture, pride (also known as LGBTQ pride, LGBTQIA pride, LGBT pride, queer pride, gay pride, or gay and lesbian pride) is the promotion of the rights, self-affirmation, dignity, Social equality, equality, and increas ...

march scheduled for 3 June 2007 as part of the Riga Pride and Friendship Days, Pujāts referred to homosexuality as "absolute depravity in sexual behavior" and an "unnatural form of prostitution". He told the faithful to "be prepared to go out into the streets" to protest the events, "not to create disorder, but to offer a disciplined position in support of the government, because on this very important issue of morals, the government is on the side of Christians."

Declaration of Truths

On 10 June 2019, Pujats, Cardinal

Raymond Leo Burke Raymond Leo Burke (born June 30, 1948) is an American Catholic prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 2014 to 2023. He previously served as Archbishop of St. Louis from 2004 to 2008 and ...

, and Kazakh bishops Tomasz Peta, Jan Paul Lenga, and

Athanasius Schneider Athanasius Schneider, O.R.C. (born Anton Schneider on 7 April 1961) is a Catholic prelate, serving as the Auxiliary Bishop of Astana in Kazakhstan. He is a member of the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of Coimbra. He is known for championi ...

published a 40-point "Declaration of Truths" claiming to reaffirm traditional Church teaching. The bishops wrote that such a declaration was necessary in a time of "almost universal doctrinal confusion and disorientation." Specific passages in the declaration implicitly relate to several writings by Pope Francis. The declaration states that "the religion born of faith in Jesus Christ" is the "only religion positively willed by God," seemingly alluding to the '' Document on Human Fraternity'' signed by Pope Francis on 4 February, which stated that the "diversity of religions" is "willed by God." Following recent changes to the Catechism to oppose

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

, the declaration states that the Church "did not err" in teaching that civil authorities may "lawfully exercise capital punishment" when it is "truly necessary" and to preserve the "just order of societies."

References

External links