LKMA išeivijoje: religijos mokslų sklaida
THE LCAS IN EXILE: PROPAGATION OF RELIGIOUS SCIENCES

Summary/Abstract: There are three major periods in the history of the Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science (LCAS), the leader of the Catholic intellectual movement of Lithuania. They cover its functioning 1) in interwar Lithuania (1922–1940), 2) in exile with its general administration in Rome (1956–1992) and 3) back in Lithuania when the LCAS was reestablished in 1990 and its general administration transferred to the homeland in 1992. Reestablished in exile in 1956, the Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science, became one of the most important establishments which unified Lithuanian Catholic scholars and scientists. The Catholic Academy was not the first or the only organization of Lithuanians in exile. After the war, the Catholic intellectuals found there quite a few functioning organizations and, thus, were able to engage their members and institutions in its activities. During all the 34 years (1956–1990) of its functioning in Rome and some larger Lithuanian communities, the general administration of the reestablished Academy promoted the formation of Academy centers (a total of 12 were formed), organized LCAS conferences (by observing the tradition of three years interval (11 conferences were held) and advanced the publishing enterprise. After its restoration in exile, the Catholic Academy continued the work which had begun in Lithuania. Research work constituted one of the principle branches of its activities. The conferences held by the Catholic Academy sought to get into contact with people of other nations. The lectures delivered at the conferences became the main expression means of the popularization of achievements in the research area. The conditions for the popularization of research studies were provided by the publications of the Catholic Academy which gave an impulse to new research studies and produced a new generation of scholars. Publishing activity was another important direction of research work done by the Catholic Academy. Supported by the sponsors, the Catholic Academy published a number of books in 52 titles. We classified them into serial publications of 7 types: the proceedings of the LCAS conferences; the annals of the LCAS; sources of history; the series called Inextinguishable Lights; literary studies; the selected works by the LCAS scholars; books by individual authors. The paper gives an outline of all the seven serial publications and the monographs. The Proceedings of the LCAS conferences became a printed source for the investigation of the history of the Academy. The proceedings of the conferences contain research works of different scientific branches based upon Catholic world outlook: theology, Catholic philosophy, chemistry, biology, medicine, medical ethics, psychology, pedagogy, sociology, mathematics, industry, modern technologies, archeology, ethnology, architecture, art criticism, linguistics, the Lithuanian language, literature and poetry. A multitude of articles deal not only with the history of Lithuania, the r

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