It's our country and it's our Cathedral: Sajūdis and the Lithuanian Catholic Church

ENLietuvos Persitvarkymo Sajūdis, commonly known as Sajūdis, was the popular nationalist movement that led Lithuania to declare independence from the Soviet Union on 11 March 1990. In its efforts to lead Lithuania to independence, Sajūdis capitalized on the historically close ties between the Catholic faith and national identity. The focus of this dissertation is the relationship between Sajūdis and the Lithuanian Catholic Church. Examining this relationship will contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of Lithuanian history and the importance of religious nationalism for Lithuania's popular independence movement. This dissertation will argue that the relationship between Sajūdis and the Lithuanian Catholic Church was essential, intentional, and mutually beneficial. An examination of how the leaders of the political front and the Catholic leadership interacted and cooperated will demonstrate that the relationship between the two was essential to Sajūdis' success as an independence movement. Although there were several cultural and historical aspects of Lithuanian national identity that might have served as foundations for the independence movement, the Catholic Church was deeply interconnected with Lithuanian nationalism, and therefore had greater mass appeal and trust than any other source of national identity. Moreover, both Sajūdis and the Church intentionally forged their relationship by courting the other's support and involvement. Sajūdis recruited priests and gave them prominent roles at rallies and other events, and also incorporated the Church's concerns, including religious freedom and property, into its political agenda.Sajūdis and the Church built the relationship because it was mutually beneficial, with both Sajūdis and the Church standing to gain socially and materially in ways that would not have been available to them without that relationship. Sajūdis benefited from the relationship when it gained a share of the Church's high level of public trust and when Sajūdis-supported candidates won elections. The Church benefitted with its properties were returned to Church ownership, religious freedom was restored, and the Church was able to reestablish its role in society through media, education, and charitable work.