Juozapas Skvireckas
Juozapas Skvireckas (1873–1959) was a Lithuanian archbishop of Kaunas (1926–1959).[1]
His Excellency Juozapas Skvireckas | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Kaunas | |
| Church | Roman Catholic |
| Archdiocese | Kaunas |
| Appointed | 5 April 1926 |
| In office | 1926–1959 |
| Successor | Vincentas Sladkevičius |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 24 June 1899 |
| Consecration | 13 July 1919 by Antanas Karosas |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 18, 1873 |
| Died | December 3, 1959 (aged 86) Austria |
| Nationality | Lithuanian |
In 1911–1937 he translated the Bible into the Lithuanian language; it was published in six volumes by the Society of Saint Casimir.[2] During the occupation of the Baltic States by the Nazis, Skvireckas and his assistant, bishop Vincentas Brizgys, welcomed the Nazis.[3] Skvireckas would provide chaplains for Lithuanian-manned Nazi auxiliary units.[4] In later years however Skvireckas issued multiple protests to Nazi authorities regarding the conditions of the Catholic church in Lithuania.[5] He also sent reports to Vatican and since 1942 started receiving instructions from papal office.[5] In 1944, Skvireckas, Brizgys and over 200 other Lithuanian clergymen left Kaunas with retreating German forces, and went into exile.[4] He would settle in Austria, where he died in 1959.[6] After his death, the post of an (arch)bishop of Kaunas was vacant till 1989.
References
- Catholic Hierarchy -Archbishop Juozapas Skvireckas
- Lithuanian Bible Archived 2011-10-04 at the Wayback Machine
- Yitzhak Arad, The Christian Churches and the Persecution of Jews in the Occupied Territories of the U.S.S.R, Shoah Resource Center, The International School for Holocaust Studies
- (in English) Tadeusz Piotrowski (1997). Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide... McFarland & Company. pp. 165–166. ISBN 0-7864-0371-3. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
- A. Strielkus Church Institution during the Period of Nazi Occupation in Lithuania
- Piotrowski, p. 350
Further reading
- "Arkivyskupas Juozas Skvireckas" by Arūnas Streikus, "Kauno Arkivyskupijos Naujienos", No. 3, winter of 1999
- Church Institution during the Period of Nazi Occupation in Lithuania
- Archbishop Skvireckas's diary, 1941 m. Birželio sukilimas (collection documents), ed. V. Brandišauskas, Vilnius, 2000
- Vilma Narkutė, The Confrontation Between the Lithuanian Catholic Church and the Soviet Regime, New Blackfriars, Volume 87 Issue 1011, pages 456–475, 2006