Greek Rite Catholicism in Lithuania: the mission of bishop Petras Būčys, 1930-1940

ENThis paper aims at an exhaustive analysis of the initiatives of Eastern Rite evangelization in interwar Lithuania, at discerning their stimuli, and at demonstrating the scope and outcomes of these activities. The functioning of the mission among the Russians of Lithuania should be examined in the context of the Vatican’s policy. It complements considerably the biography of Bishop Būčys and the history of the Congregation of Marian Fathers, which also functions in the United States. Most importantly, the history of the mission can offer an explanation for prolonged cold and complicated relations between the Catholic and Orthodox churches and the causes of mistrust that are so persistent in the twenty-first century, and assist in answering the question as to why ecumenical relations between Christian churches in contemporary Lithuania are cautious and do not open prospects for broader cooperation.