Sigitas Tamkevičius (born 7 November 1938) is a Lithuanian

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 Cardinal of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and Archbishop emeritus of Kaunas. Pope Francis raised him to the rank of

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 ...

on 5 October 2019.

Biography

He graduated from secondary school in Seirijai in 1955 and entered the Kaunas Priest Seminary. He spent several years in the military service in the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

and then continued his theology studies, graduating from the seminary in 1962. He was ordained priest by Bishop Petras Maželis on 18 April 1962. He ministered as

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

in the parishes of

Alytus Alytus () is a city with Town privileges, municipal rights in southern Lithuania. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, sixth-largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, 14th-largest city in the Baltic ...

, Lazdijai,

Kudirkos Naumiestis Kudirkos Naumiestis () is a town in southern Lithuania. It is located south-west of Šakiai. History The settlement was first mentioned in 1561 as a village called ''Duoliebaičiai.'' In 1639 the town was renamed ''Vladislavovas'' () by Cec ...

, Prienai, Simnas. In 1968 he entered the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

, which was then illegal under Soviet law. Tamkevičius was among the initiators of the petition action protesting the Soviet discriminating restrictions on the Kaunas Seminary. Because of that Soviet authorities forbade Tamkevičius from exercising his ministry. He worked in a factory and in the land-reclamation area for one year. While vicar in Simnas parish, Tamkevičius initiated the underground publication of the '' Chronicle of the Catholic Church of Lithuania'' in 1972. The Chronicle registered and made public in the West the facts of

religious discrimination Religious discrimination is treating a person or group differently because of the particular religion they align with or were born into. This includes instances when adherents of different religions, denominations or non-religions are treate ...

in Soviet Lithuania. The underground publications were persecuted by

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

. Tamkevičius was the pastor of Kybartai parish from 1975 until 1983. At the same time he was the editor of The Chronicle for 11 years until his arrest in 1983. Tamkevičius together with four other Lithuanian priests founded the Catholic Committee for Defense of the Believers’ Rights in 1978. Tamkevičius was arrested and put under trial, being accused for alleged anti-Soviet propaganda and agitation in 1983. He was sentenced with ten years term of the prison and

exile Exile or banishment 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 ...

. Tamkevičius spent his prison term in the labor camps of Perm and

Mordovia Mordovia ( ),; Moksha language, Moksha and officially the Republic of Mordovia,; ; is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, situated in Eastern Europe. Its capital city, capital is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of S ...

. He was exiled to

Tomsk Oblast Tomsk Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It lies in the southeastern West Siberian Plain, in the southwest of the Siberian Federal District. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited loca ...

in 1988. With the liberalization of Soviet politics under

perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

, he was released in 1988. The Lithuanian Bishops' Conference appointed Tamkevičius spiritual director of the Kaunas Seminary in 1989. He was appointed rector of the Seminary in 1990. Tamkevičius was appointed auxiliary bishop of Kaunas on 8 May 1991 and was consecrated a bishop on 19 May 1991.

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 ...

appointed him Archbishop of Kaunas on 4 May 1996. Within the Lithuanian

Episcopal Conference An episcopal conference, often also called a bishops’ conference or conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The fir ...

, he has been

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

(1999–2002, 2005–2008, and 2008–2014) and

Vice-President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

(2002–2005).

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 ...

accepted his resignation on 11 June 2015. On 5 October 2019, Pope Francis made him

Cardinal Priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

of Sant'Angela Merici.

References

;Additional sources * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tamkevicius, Sigitas 1938 births Living people People from Lazdijai District Municipality Lithuanian cardinals Archbishops of Kaunas 20th-century Lithuanian Jesuits Lithuanian anti-communists Cardinals created by Pope Francis Jesuit cardinals Jesuit archbishops Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II

Biography

See also

References