Vilniaus vyskupas Ignotas Masalskis ir katalikiška apšvieta: edukacijos ir pastoracijos simbiozė

LTIstorinių faktų ar įvykių seka, rūpestingas jų sluoksniavimas pagal tam tikras vidines charakteristikas ar išorės faktūras yra bergždžias žaidimas, jeigu juos izoliuosime nuo žmogaus aplinkos. Antropologinis matmuo apvalo istorinius procesus nuo anonimiškumo apnašų ir objektyvumo drumzlių. Atskiros asmenybės tyrinėjamos tiek, kiek į jas galima žvelgti kaip į svarbų bei reikšmingą kolektyvinių polinkių reiškėją. XVIII a. Vakarų Europos ideologija, pagrįsta tikėjimu, jog auklėjimas, reformos ir instituciniai pokyčiai padės individui įgyvendinti savo gabumus, jos sklidimas į Lenkijos ir Lietuvos teritoriją nebuvo savaimingas procesas. Jis tapo neišvengiamu tik todėl, jog Abiejų Tautų Respublikos pirmieji Apšvie- tos veikėjai, priklausę valstybės elitiniam sluoksniui, sugebėjo sukurti transliavimo sistemą, per kurią Apšvietos epochos idėjos buvo perduodamos kitiems visuomenės sluoksniams. Vienas tokios sistemos kūrėjų Lietuvoje, bene svarbiausias tų idėjų retransliatorius, buvo Vilniaus vyskupas Ignotas Jokūbas Masalskis (1729-1794). Jo nuopelnai ypač akivaizdūs edukacinėje bei su ja glaudžiai susijusioje pastoracinėje veikloje. Ignoto Masalskio inspiruotas kultūrinis katalikiškas Apšvietos modelis XVIII a. paskutiniame ketvirtyje brėžė naujus sąmoningumo orientyrus [p. 92].

ENCultural ideals of Ignotas Masalskis and his closest surrounding were connected with the doctrine of the Catholic Church. The studies in Rome had great impact on the bishop's confessional education. He reorganized his domain and tried to facilitate pastoral work of ordinary clerics. A new type of a dean of the Enlightenment epoch was formed; the model of a strict bishop, characterized by religious intolerancy and absolute power in the diocese that was established at the Trident Ecclesiastical Council became outdated. Following the principles of the epoch, I. Masalskis attempted to create a new image of an educated pastor. In 1764 the bishop asked the priests of his diocese to describe the parishes' property in detail, sending out questionnaire forms for this purpose. Such stocktaking helped create a new system of administration in the diocese. By I. Masalskis efforts, the Vilnius Priest Seminary was reorganized. In 1765 it was entrusted to monastic missionaires who were known as good educators. Structural changes were followed by new teaching principles, aimed at activating an independent thought among the seminary students. I. Masalskis also initiated publishing of a Portuguese Franciscan's L. A.Verney's book "De re logica". In 1771 the bishop published a brochure explaining the methods of fighting epidemics and hygiene requirements. The pope's Clement XIV pastoral list "Dominus ac Redemptor" announcing the abolition of the Jesuit Order reached Lithuania in 1773. The majority of Lithuanian schools were maintained by the Jesuits, therefore it was necessary to decide on the fate of the huge property of the Order and to find new administrators for the schools.Under such circumstances education became the core of I. Masalskis' cultural, social and pastoral activities. On October 9, 1773 the bishop presented a draft proposal on the organizational principles of the Educational Commission. Six days later, the Educational Commission was established, with I. Masalskis being its first president. In 1774 he promised to found a school in every third parish. The bishop believed that new training institutions for teachers would improve education. By his initiative, a Teachers' Seminary was set up in 1775. This institution was important from two aspects. A new social group of teachers started to be formed; on the other hand, a distinctive type of educated village men, a sexton, became a link between the village community and the Church. In the beginning, the seminary had only 16 students, but their number was constantly increasing. In 1775 a society for the preparation of textbooks was founded to solve an urgent problem of textbooks. The activities of the society were very important, first of all because they helped change the methods of reading and the relation between the reader and reality in general. The method of text dictation widely practised by the Jesuits was replaced by an individual approach towards the text. The long-standing fear of books was overcome in the Polish-Lithuanian Republic. In the epoch of Enlightenment, books became a matter of everyday life. Furthermore, due to the existence of the society new scientific concepts and terms were created. I. Masalskis' educational programme was interrupted by the famous visit by J. Wybicky. In 1777 the president of the Educational Commission was accused of wasting the funds allotted for education. Having resigned from the post of president, I. Masalskis as the head of the Lithuanian Church did not loose his influence upon the educational process.The period 1777-1782 brought some changes to the educational consciousness: the imperatives of administrative character were replaced by individual education- seeking efforts. The principles underlying the Commission's activities had much in common with the contents of church education. Both the Educational Commission and the Catholic Church - though having different ideas and different meaning - contributed to the creation of a united cultural space of Poland-Lithuania in the last quarter of the 18th century. This is clearly seen in the closest environment of I. Masalskis. The bishop was actively assisted by two famous missionaries, namely, professors of the priest seminary V.Kalinskis and M. Karpavičius. J. Kniazevicius worked in I. Masalskis court as a mathematician and biographer. T. Husazevskis was a prominent personality of Vilnius intellectual acropolis; in 1783 he became professor of universal history at the Vilnius Academy. Mention should also be made of I. Masalskis' favourite S. Siestrzencewicz, who often accompanied the bishop in his travels. The ex-Jesuit D. Pilchovskis should also be included in I. Masalskis' circle. This professor of philosophy and theology worked at the Collegium Nobilium in Vilnius and founded a library there. Bishop J. Strojnovskis, who was highly valued by I. Masalskis, published a textbook of political economy in 1785. All these men formed a strong intellectual nucleus of Lithuania, firmly connected with the provinces by means of arteries and veins of the Church.