Polacy w Kościele katolickim na Litwie 1945-2024

ENThe overwhelming majority of Polish Catholics in Lithuania were concentrated in the Vilnius archdiocese. They were subjected to all forms of restrictions on the activities of religious associations and persecution of religious life like all Catholics in Lithuania. Moreover, because of the negative perception of the Catholic Church in Poland by the Soviet authorities, the influence of Polish Catholicism on Catholics in Lithuania, and especially on Poles living there, their situation was even more burdensome. The Vilnius Theological Seminary was closed; the authorities allowed only the functioning of the Kaunas Theological Seminary, the only one in Lithuania that could admit seminarians, the number of which was limited. This led to a drastic decrease in Polish priests in the Vilnius archdiocese. The policy of the Soviet authorities towards religious orders and congregations was based on the conviction, widespread in the USSR, that the monastic element was particularly reactionary, the consequence of which was the liquidation of convents and increased surveillance and persecution of people belonging to convents and congregations. Moreover, in the Vilnius region, an additional accusation was the Polishness (in its broadest sense), perceived as an element to which anti-Soviet overtones were attributed.The restoration of Lithuania's independence in 1990 ensured full religious freedom, normalised relations between the state and religious associations, and enabled the boundaries of the dioceses of the Catholic Church in Lithuania to be reordered to coincide with those of the state. Institutions of religious life were re-established, including the Vilnius Seminary, and the number of Polish priests in the Vilnius archdiocese increased compared to the Soviet period. This allowed for a revival of religious life in parishes, and new pastoral forms appeared, such as the organisation of pilgrimages and the publication of a Catholic press. Key words: Catholic Church in Lithuania, Soviet confessional policy, Poles in Lithuania.