- Title: Catholics in Baltic states prepare for Pope Francis' visit
- Date: 20th September 2018
- Summary: VILNIUS, LITHUANIA (SEPTEMBER 20, 2018) (REUTERS) ARCHBISHOP OF VILNIUS GINTARAS GRUSAS ENTERING CHAPEL (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARCHBISHOP OF VILNIUS, GINTARAS GRUSAS, SAYING: "John Paul II came at the dawn of our independence, of our self-determination after 50 years of occupation. Pope Francis comes to a different Lithuania, the economic situation is much better, the dream
- Embargoed: 4th October 2018 18:15
- Keywords: Pope Francis papal visit to Baltic states Lithuania Latvia Estonia Catholic Church
- Location: VILNIUS, LITHUANIA / RIGA AND AGLONA, LATVIA / TALLINN, ESTONIA
- City: VILNIUS, LITHUANIA / RIGA AND AGLONA, LATVIA / TALLINN, ESTONIA
- Country: Various
- Topics: Religion/Belief,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0038YFLZ5Z
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Preparations are underway in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia for the arrival of Pope Francis as he starts a tour of the Baltic countries on Saturday (September 22).
The three countries have similar 20th century history and a common threat in resurgent Russia, which called the region its own for most of the 20th century.
When Pope John Paul II visited the Baltics in September 1993, the countries were still in turmoil of Soviet Union break up.
"Pope Francis comes to a different Lithuania. The economic situation is much better, but the dreams that we had did not realize themselves", American-born and Vatican-educated Archbishop of Vilnius Gintaras Grusas, 56, told Reuters in an interview.
Twenty-five years on, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are members of NATO, the European Union and have euro as their currency, the only region in the former Soviet Union to do so.
Although the wealth of the three countries has shot up from roughly half the European Union average a decade ago to roughly three quarters of the average today, the spoils were not shared by all, with income inequality among the highest in union, especially in Lithuania. About quarter to a third of populations live in poverty, with meagre retirement pensions and stingy social safety net.
As Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and fears mounted that the Baltics might be next on the list, defence spending was prioritized and increased sharply in the region. Several thousand soldiers from U.S. and NATO allies were deployed in the region.
The region is still healing the wounds of 1940s, which saw over 200,000 Jews murdered by Nazi Germans, aided by locals, and few hundred thousand population forcibly deported to Siberia by Soviet Union in an attempt to subdue the rebellious annexed provinces.
The Pope will pay a visit to sites remembering the atrocities, such as laying wreath to a monument in Riga which was focus of its anti-Soviet movement, and praying in former Jewish ghetto in Vilnius, liquidated 75 years ago.
The Pope will pray at so-called Siberian Madonna statue in Vilnius, originally carved by an exiled Lithuanian near Krasnoyarsk in 1955 to adorn graves of his fellow deportees, and pay respects at the former KGB jail in Vilnius where hundreds were murdered and thousands sentenced to hard labour, including many priests.
"By laying the flowers, the wreath, by praying for those who suffered, who died, who were deported, the Holy Father recognizes the input and their contribution to freedom we have today. He bows his head in that recognition and he urges us to never forget the price and the importance of freedom we have", Grusas said.
The Pope will hold a mass in Freedom square in Tallinn, which in Soviet times was called Victory square and featured military parades. Thousands of candles are burned in the square each year to commemorate the Soviet deportees.
Lithuanian is by far the most Catholic of the three Baltic states, a legacy of its long association with Poland.
About a quarter of Latvian believers are Catholic, and the 2011 census in majority-nonbeliever Estonia, found only 4,501 people identifying themselves with the faith. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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