Lietuvos Katalikų Bažnyčios hierarchų požiūris į pirmąją valstybės vidaus paskolą 1919 metais
The attitude of the hierarchy of the Lithuanian Catholic Church toward the first government loan of 1919

Summary/Abstract: First manifestations of the Lithuanisation in the Lithuanian Catholic Church have been seen in the historical literature since the middle of the 19th century. The problem of Church depolonisation remained live in the beginning of 20th century and after 1918. Specific situation emerged when the interests of the Catholic Church and state crossed very often and sometimes went in the same direction. Collision could not happen between State and Church because Lithuanians – Catholic clergymen – were spreaders of national and public ideas. Based on the materials found in the curia archives of Kaunas archdiocese and using data obtained from periodicals of the period, the author aims at disclosing the attitude of the hierarchy of the Lithuanian Catholic Church (Samogitian diocese) towards the first government loan of 1919. The focus in the paper will be held on the question why the Lithuanian Catholic Church refused to act according its strategic line – lithuanisation of the Church during the announcement about the first governmental loan. State institutions in Poland were interested about the destiny of the first government loan. Deepening Polish-Lithuanian conflict supposed great interest of Polish intelligence office in Lithuania. The reports of Polish intelligence officers sent from Kaunas describing Kaunas life could be found in the Central Archive of Polish Army in Rembertow (Warsaw). Second part of sources consist of the periodicals of Lithuanian Christian Democratic party: “Laisvė“ (Freedom) and “Vienybė“ (Unity). These newspapers kept track of events in Lithuanian political, cultural, economic and social life realities very carefully and so formed the civic position of its readers. A complicated geopolitical situation and a host of internal problems aggravated the consolidation of the statehood of Lithuania. The first government loan of 1919 marked a desire to improve financial status of the young Lithuanian state. Bishop Juozapas Skvireckas, on behalf of the Lithuanian Catholic Church, provided enormous support to the cause by spreading information about it and also giving information about the loan and encouraging citizens of Lithuania to buy government bonds. Main conclusions: Economical situation in Lithuania in 1919 indicated oncoming economical chaos. The first government loan announced on July 12, 1919 had to strengthen the independence of the Lithuanian state. The suggestion of secular authority to inform the believers of the Samogitian diocese about the first government loan not only in Lithuanian but also in Polish was acceptable for the hierarchy of the Church. Strengthening of the State demanded staying away from antipolish agitation and the practice of relithuanisation. It became possible to recede from confrontation with Poles in Lithuania and to step towards cooperation.

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