Sigitas Tamkevičius

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Archbishop Tamkevičius in the Vepriai Church (2010)
Cardinal coat of arms of Sigitas Tamkevičius

Sigitas Cardinal Tamkevičius SJ (born November 7, 1938 in Gudonys , Rayon Lazdijai ) is a Lithuanian Roman Catholic religious and retired Archbishop of Kaunas .

Life

In 1955 Sigitas Tamkevičius finished secondary school in Seirijai and entered Kaunas Seminary . He was ordained a priest on April 18, 1962. He was then chaplain in Alytus , Lazdijai , Kudirkos Naumiestis , Prienai and Simnas . In 1968 he joined the Jesuits, an order banned in the Soviet Union .

"Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania"

Since March 19, 1972 he published the Lithuanian Roman Catholic magazine ( Lietuvos Katalikų Bažnyčios Kronika , German: Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania ) and worked as an editor for 11 years. Because of his religious and anti-Soviet views and activities, he was persecuted by Soviet intelligence services and authorities for many years.

In the gulag

On May 6, 1983, Sigitas Tamkevičius was sentenced to 6 years in a labor camp and 4 years in exile. This turned into five years in four Soviet gulag camps (including the camps Perm 37, Perm 36 and Perm 35) and six months from the country. He was convicted according to Art. 70 StGB USSR (Art. 68 StGB LSSR , "for anti-Soviet agitation and acts"). He had reported on the persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union in the underground newspaper Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania .

Sigitas Tamkevičius did forced labor in the infirmary and in the kitchen of the camps, but was also used in the swamps to build canals. His legs were badly damaged in the harsh climate of Siberia . His faith was strengthened through his prayer and work in the prison camp. He was left with the New Testament and knew the mass of the mass by heart. In order to be able to celebrate the Holy Mass , he only lacked mass wine .

He was allowed to receive a 5kg package a month. Tamkevičius always asked for raisins because he had learned in the seminar how to make wine from them in extreme emergency (with water, the raisins ferment within three days). So you could celebrate Holy Mass in captivity (with your back to the door). If at all possible, fellow prisoners could participate. Sigitas Tamkevičius had hidden small vessels in a glasses case.

KGB persecution

The KGB did not allow him to keep his rosary . But a cellmate (a sailor) made a rosary for Sigitas Tamkevičius out of bread. The KGB learned of this and mocked a Soviet newspaper: the prisoner was holding a rosary in one hand and a gavel in the other . After the day's forced labor, there was free time, so Sigitas Tamkevičius could pray three hours a day, including the rosary.

When the authorities were considering firing him, but at the same time were extremely interested in receiving information, a young KGB colonel invited the priest to tea , which was very unusual . After that he couldn't remember anything from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. There were drugs in the tea; and during the interrogation one tried - unsuccessfully - to get information about the publications of the underground church . On December 4, 1988 Sigitas Tamkevičius was able to return to Vilnius .

bishop

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Sigitas Tamkevičius was appointed auxiliary bishop in Kaunas and titular bishop of Turuda on May 8, 1991 by Pope John Paul II . The Archbishop of Kaunas, Vincentas Cardinal Sladkevicius , donated him the episcopal ordination on May 19, 1991; Co- consecrators were the Bishop of Telšiai , Antanas Vaičius , the Apostolic Administrator of Panevėžys , Juozas Preikšas , and his predecessor Romualdas Krikšciunas , and Vladas Michelevičius , auxiliary bishop in Kaunas.

On May 4, 1996, after the resignation of Vincentas Sladkevicius, he succeeded him as Archbishop of Kaunas.

On June 11, 2015, Pope Francis accepted his age-related resignation.

From 1999 to 2002 and again from 2005 to 2014 he was chairman of the Lithuanian Bishops' Conference .

On September 1, 2019, Pope Francis announced that he would be admitted to the College of Cardinals as a cardinal priest in the consistory of October 5, 2019 . Because he has exceeded the age limit, he is not entitled to vote in a conclave . When the cardinal was created, the Pope assigned him the titular church of Sant'Angela Merici on October 5, 2019 . The takeover of his titular church took place on January 26 of the following year.

Honors

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arkivyskupas Sigitas Tamkevičius SJ. Lithuanian Bishops' Conference, accessed October 1, 2019 (Lithuanian).
  2. ↑ Detlev Preuße: upheaval from below. The self-liberation of Central and Eastern Europe and the end of the Soviet Union. Springer, Wiesbaden 2014, ISBN 978-3-658-04971-3 , p. 83.
  3. ↑ Detlev Preuße: upheaval from below. The self-liberation of Central and Eastern Europe and the end of the Soviet Union. Springer, Wiesbaden 2014, p. 159.
  4. ↑ Detlev Preuße: upheaval from below. The self-liberation of Central and Eastern Europe and the end of the Soviet Union. Springer, Wiesbaden 2014, p. 402.
  5. ^ Rinuncia dell'Arcivescovo Metropolita di Kaunas (Lituania) e nomina del successore. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , June 11, 2015, accessed June 11, 2015 (Italian).
  6. ↑ Annuncio di Concistoro il 5 ottobre per la creazione di nuovi Cardinali. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, September 1, 2019, accessed September 1, 2019 (Italian).
  7. ↑ Concistoro Ordinario Pubblico: Assegnazione dei Titoli. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, October 5, 2019, accessed October 5, 2019 (Italian).
  8. ↑ Miesto Garbe piliečiai. kaunas.lt, September 8, 2018, accessed October 12, 2019 (Lithuanian).
personal data
SURNAME Tamkevičius, Sigitas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lithuanian Roman Catholic chaplain, retired Archbishop of Kaunas and cardinal
DATE OF BIRTH November 7, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Gudonys , Lazdijai Rayon