Kęstutis Kėvalas (17 February 1972) is a Lithuanian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been the Metropolitan Archbishop of Kaunas since 2020. He has been a bishop since 2012, serving first as an auxiliary bishop of Kaunas from 2012 to 2017 and then as bishop of

Telšiai Telšiai (; Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Telšē'') is a city in Lithuania with about 21,499 inhabitants. It is the capital of Telšiai County and Samogitia region, and it is located on the shores of Lake Mastis. Telšiai is one of the ol ...

from 2017 to 2020. In his role of archbishop, he is also the president of Caritas Lithuania.

Biography

Kęstutis Kėvalas was born in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was ''de facto'' one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944 ...

(now the

Republic of 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 ...

), on 17 February 1972. He attended secondary school in Šančiai and music school in Kaunas. From 1990 to 1992 he studied radioelectronics at

Kaunas University of Technology The Kaunas University of Technology (abbreviated as KTU, ) is a public university, public research university located in Kaunas, Lithuania. Established in 1922, KTU has been seen as one of Lithuania's top science education centers. In 2021, KTU ...

. From 1993 to 1997 he studied theology and philosophy at the Kaunas Priest Seminary. He continued his studies at the Seminary of St. Mary in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

from 1997 to 2000, earning bachelor's and master's degrees in theology. On 29 June 2000, he was ordained at the Cathedral Basilica of St Peter and St Paul. He then returned to St. Mary's and completed his licentiate in theology. His thesis was "Catholic Social Teaching and Economical Development: A Case Study of Lithuania". From 2001 to 2005 he led the preparatory year program at the Archdiocesan Seminary and served as diocesan youth minister. Beginning in February 2002 he taught a variety of undergraduate classes at

Vytautas Magnus University Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) (, VDU) is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the interwar period as an alternate national university. Initially it was known as the University of Lithuania, but ...

in Kaunas. In September 2003 he started graduate studies in

moral theology Ethics involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''"Ethics" A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply satisfyin ...

there and took on additional responsibility for the preparatory year at John Paul II House in

Šiluva Šiluva is a small town of less than 700 inhabitants in Lithuania. It is located in the Regions of Lithuania, region of Samogitia. It is List of Catholic pilgrimage sites in Lithuania, a major site of Catholic pilgrimage in Lithuania. History � ...

. He became spiritual director of the Seminary in 2005. He worked on his doctoral thesis in the United States in 2006-2007 and completed his doctorate in January 2008 with a thesis on "The Origins and Ends of the Free Economy as Portrayed in the Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus". He was deputy dean of the Faculty of Catholic Theology at Vytautas Magnus from 2009 to 2011 and then program director of Radio Maria from 2010 to 2012. On 27 September 2012,

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 ...

appointed him titular bishop of Abziri and auxiliary bishop of Kaunas. He received his episcopal consecration on 24 November from Sigitas Tamkevičius, Archbishop of Kaunas. Within the Lithuanian Bishops' Conference he was elected chairman of the council of social affairs in 2013 and re-elected in 2014. In August 2015, in anticipation of the Synod on the Family, he discussed the Church's challenges in confronting contemporary culture. On 20 April 2017,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

named him Coadjutor Bishop of

. Kėvalas succeeded as bishop there on 18 September 2017. In January 2018 he was elected chairman of the Commission for Education of the Lithuanian Bishops' Conference. On 19 February 2020, Pope Francis named him Metropolitan Archbishop of

. He was installed there on 24 June 2020.

References

External links

Archbishop Kęstutis Kėvalas
on Catholic Hierarchy * 1972 births Living people People from Kaunas Bishops appointed by Pope Benedict XVI 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Lithuania Archbishops of Kaunas Kaunas University of Technology alumni Academic staff of Vytautas Magnus University {{Lithuania-reli-bio-stub