Литва: Католицизмнің тарихы мен рөлі

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The Catholic Church in Lithuania is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. Lithuania is the world's northernmost Catholic majority country. Pope Pius XII gave Lithuania the title of "northernmost outpost of Catholicism in Europe" in 1939. Among the Baltic states, Lithuania is the country with the highest percentage of Catholic population. Almost three quarters (74.19%) of Lithuania's population, self identified as Catholics in the 2021 census. The country is divided into eight dioceses including two archdioceses and a military ordinariate. St. Casimir (Kazimieras, 1458–1484) is the only canonized saint of Lithuania. He is the patron of the country and Lithuanian youth. Archbishop Jurgis Matulaitis Matulevičius (1871–1927) was beatified in 1987.

The missionary bishop Saint Bruno of Querfurt was martyred in 1009 for preaching the Christian faith. Some historians write that he was martyred by the Lithuanians, but Zigmas Zinkevičius contests this and says that Bruno was killed in lands inhabited by the Yotvingians. The name of Lithuania was mentioned for the first time due to this.

Catholicism began to spread in Lithuania in the 13th century. The Dominican Order and the Franciscans began to be established in Lithuania during the rule of Mindaugas The Dominican Saint Hyacinth came to Lithuania in 1231. In 1251, a Lithuanian delegation sent by Lithuania's ruler Mindaugas informed Pope Innocent IV that Mindaugas would like to be baptised as Roman Catholic. The Pope enthusiastically accepted the Lithuanian conversion, writing even six papal bulls regarding this matter. In the first half of 1251, Mindaugas and many of his subjects, including part of the Lithuanian nobility, were baptised as Roman Catholics. The ruler's baptism meant that Lithuania became an officially Catholic country that was internationally recognized already in the 1250s.]] In 1501, Erazm Ciołek, a priest of the Vilnius Cathedral, explained to the Pope that the Lithuanians preserve their language and ensure respect to it (Linguam propriam observant), but they also use the Ruthenian language for simplicity reasons because it is spoken by almost half of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the 16th century, following the decline of Ruthenian usage in favor of Polish in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Lithuanian language strengthened its positions in Lithuania due to reforms, including religious, which allowed lower levels of the Lithuanian nobility to participate in the social political life of the state.

Lithuania regained its independence once more in 1990, during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The Catholic Church is an influential factor in the country, and some priests actively led the resistance against the Communist regime and, after independence was regained, in support of traditionalism, especially in ethical questions. The Catholic Church in Lithuania has after independence continued to campaign against liberal and socialist measures, especially in ethical questions. The treaties of the Holy See and the Republic of Lithuania entered into force in 2000. Since then, the relations between the Catholic Church and the Lithuanian state have been regulated by three special treaties of the Republic of Lithuania and the Holy See, instead of the concordat.

Christian culture was spread in Lithuania through schools. Until the Third Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, education was mainly taken care of by the Catholic Church. Initially, the first schools operated in Vilnius near the Franciscan monastery and cathedral. Vytautas settled the Benedictines in Senieji Trakai in 1409, where it was sought that they would open a school as well. A parish school for the townspeople was established, near the Church of St. Johns, Vilnius, in 1413. More schools appeared in the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1534, the Synod of Vilnius ordered priests to establish schools. The church leadership ordered in 1607 the establishment of primary schools in all parishes, while the higher schools were maintained by Jesuits, Piarists and other monks. In the 18th century, there were about 300 parochial schools in Lithuania, with 5,000 students. The Jesuits establish a college in Vilnius in 1570. The Vilnius Academy was founded in 1579 by the Jesuits through the reorganization of the college they established nine years prior. The university trained Lithuanian clergymen and published Lithuanian language religious literature. Jesuits also founded many colleges in other cities. The Jesuits head the Vilnius University until 1773. After the suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773, the Commission of National Education took over the management of Vilnius University and higher schools.

The first churches appeared in Lithuania before the introduction of Christianity – they were built by merchants and craftsmen from other countries who lived here. After the baptism in 1387 the number of churches in Lithuania began to grow notably. In the middle of the twentieth century there were as many as 885 Catholic churches and chapels in Lithuania. The first church in Lithuania, supposedly, was built by the Grand Duke Mindaugas in the thirteenth century. It was Vilnius Cathedral, which in its long history has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. The oldest surviving stone church is St. Nicholas, built in the 14th – 15th centuries. It stands in Vilnius and visitors admire its Gothic and Romanesque features. St. Anne's Church is a masterpiece of late Gothic. The Chapel of the Gate of Dawn storing the icon of the Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy in Vilnius has many features of late Renaissance and is one of the holy places in Lithuania most visited by pilgrims. Impressive architectural work of baroque is St. Peter and Paul Church in Vilnius. The oldest wooden church of Lithuania is in Palušė, Ignalina district.