Mečislovas Reinys

House where Reinys was born

Mečislovas Reinys was born on 5 February 1884 on a farm in Madagaskaras near Daugailiai and Antalieptė, then part of the Russian Empire. He was the youngest of 11 children.[1] His parents owned about 32 hectares (79 acres) of land.[2] His father died when Reinys was seven from a kick by a horse.[2][3]

Reinys received some education at home and at a primary school in Antalieptė.[1] He was then taken in by his relative, a Catholic priest who worked in Muravanaja Ašmianka. Reinys attended a school there for three years.[4] He then moved to live with relatives in Riga and attend the Riga Alexander Gymnasium.[1][4] Reinys was an excellent student and graduated with a gold medal in 1900.[2] For some time, he worked as a tutor to earn some money.[5]

From 1901 to 1905, he studied at the Vilnius Priest Seminary. He then received a government stipend for studies at the Saint Petersburg Roman Catholic Theological Academy.[1] His professors included Kazimieras Jaunius, Vincent Hadleŭski, Zygmunt Łoziński, Jurgis Matulaitis-Matulevičius, Adomas Jakštas, Pranciškus Būčys, Jonas Mačiulis-Maironis, Jan Cieplak.[6] He was ordained a priest on 10 June 1907 in Saint Petersburg and held his first mass in his native parish church in Daugailiai. He graduated in 1909 with a master's degree in theology.[1]

He continued his studies at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium).[1] His professors included Maurice De Wulf, Albert Michotte, Armand Thiéry, Alphonse Meunier.[7] At the university, he was a member of a Lithuanian student society which read and wrote articles to various Lithuanian periodicals.[8] He spent three vacations in Horsens (Denmark) doing pastoral work among Polish and Lithuanian workers.[9] He defended his doctoral thesis about morality in the works of Vladimir Solovyov in 1912.[1] It was one of the first works to discuss Solovyov's works in western Europe.[10]

Reinys was interested not only in theology, but also in psychology, natural law, natural sciences, geology.[2] After his doctorate, he continued to study natural sciences (including prof. Victor Grégoire) in Leuven and philosophy (including prof. Georg Simmel) at the University of Strasbourg (France).[9][1]

During his studies, Reinys traveled across Europe and learned multiple languages: Latin, Italian, French, English, Danish, German in addition to the local languages of Lithuanian, Russian, and Polish. He later also learned Spanish.[1]

Reinys returned to Lithuania just before the outbreak of World War I and became a vicar at the Church of St. Johns, Vilnius.[2] He started working as a chaplain at the newly establish Lithuanian Vytautas Magnus Gymnasium and Teachers' Seminary maintained by the Lithuanian Education Society Rytas.[9] He later became a teacher of religion, psychology, logic, natural sciences, and political economy.[9] He became a professor at Vilnius Priest Seminary in 1916 and continued to teach until 1922.[2] He taught sociology and philosophy.[9]

During the German occupation, Reinys participated in the Lithuanian political life. He was associated with a small Lithuanian political club which debated Lithuania's post-war future. For this involvement, Reinys was interrogated by the German police in January 1917.[11] Reinys participated in the Vilnius Conference in September 1917 and was elected to the central committee of the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party which was established after the conference.[12] He was one of the authors of the original party's program.[9] He was reelected to the party's leadership in 1918 and 1925.[12]

From November 1915 to December 1916, and again from August 1918 to June 1922, Reinys was chairman of the Lithuanian Education Society Rytas which maintained Lithuanian primary schools in Vilnius Region.[13] He also worked with Ateitis and Pavasaris Catholic youth organizations. For two years, he was vice-chairman of the Lithuanian Scientific Society.[9] In 1920, he was also elected to the board of the Provisional Committee of Vilnius Lithuanians.[14]

The Red Army captured Vilnius in early January 1919 at the start of the Lithuanian–Soviet War. Authorities of the proclaimed Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic arrested Reinys on 22 February 1919.[5] He was held in Lukiškės Prison for giving a speech on 16 February, the first anniversary of the Act of Independence of Lithuania.[15] As Soviets were about to be pushed out of Vilnius by the Polish forces in April 1919, they took several prominent Lithuanians as hostages, including Reinys, Felicija Bortkevičienė, Juozas Vailokaitis, and Liudas Gira,[1] and transported them to prisons in Daugavpils and Smolensk.[5] On 24 July 1919, Vaclovas Sidzikauskas arranged a prisoner exchange in Daugailiai: 15 prominent Lithuanians, including Reinys, for 35 communists.[16]

In 1922, Reinys moved from Vilnius (which was incorporated into the Second Polish Republic) to Kaunas, the temporary capital of Lithuania. Reinys was invited to teach at the University of Lithuania and head its department of psychology.[10] At different times he taught general, comparative, and educational psychology, special topics in psychology, and led psychology practical.[17] His lecture notes were published by students in 1931.[18]

In 1931, the ruling Lithuanian Nationalist Union reduced the Faculty of Theology, eliminated the department of psychology, and laid off 18 professors. Reinys was also temporarily dismissed.[19] This prompted Lithuanian clergy to revive ideas about a separate Catholic university.[19] Reinys was in charge of this proposed university and was slated to become its rector. The Holy See approved the university in June 1932 and it was supposed to open in August 1932, but the Lithuanian Nationalist Union postponed it indefinitely.[20] Since the Catholic university was not abolished, but only postponed, Reinys continued to seek official recognition of the university. He represented the university at various gatherings and societies up until 1940.[21] He also prepared annual reports and organized lectures in the name of the university.[22]

After the dismissal in 1931, Reinys quickly returned to the University of Lithuania, but only as a privatdozent, i.e. without a full-time salary. To compensate Reinys and other affected lecturers, remaining professors agreed to donate part of their salary.[23] Reinys continued to teach at the university until 1940.[24]

As a member of the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party, Reinys was selected by Prime Minister Leonas Bistras as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He served in this capacity from 25 September 1925 to 20 April 1926.[25] Foreign diplomats and Lithuanian opposition did not consider him a strong or independent minister and believed he was assigned to the post only temporarily.[26]

His predecessor, Voldemaras Čarneckis, was forced to resign when he attempted to normalize the relations with Poland. Therefore, after the Locarno Treaties, the new government searched for alternatives – normalize Lithuania's relations with the Holy See, sign a treaty with the Soviet Union, and search for allies in Germany, Latvia, or Estonia.[26]

Lithuania's relations with the Holy See soured after the Concordat of 1925 with Poland which established an ecclesiastical province in Vilnius, thereby acknowledging Poland's claims to the city. Due to rising tensions, official diplomatic relations were severed.[27] With the help of Archbishop Jurgis Matulaitis-Matulevičius, Reinys reestablished diplomatic contacts with the Holy See and agreed to a three-step plan to normalize the relations.[28] The first step was establishing an ecclesiastical province in Lithuania. On 4 April 1926, Pope Pius XI issued a bull which established the Archdiocese of Kaunas in place of the Diocese of Samogitia as well as new Dioceses of Kaišiadorys, Telšiai, Vilkaviškis, and Panevėžys.[28] The Lithuanian opposition attacked the bull, accused the government of "surrendering" its claims to Vilnius, and claimed that Reinys served his ecclesiastical superiors in Vatican first and Lithuania second. This led to Reinys' resignation on 20 April 1926.[29] He also resigned from the Christian Democratic Party.[12]

In relations with Poland, Reinys had to respond to an incident when Polish border guards violated the border, captured about 15 hectares (37 acres) of forest near Kernavė, and took eight Lithuanian policemen as prisoners on 17–22 February 1926.[30] The Lithuanian government prepared a protest note which Reinys personally delivered to Ishii Kikujirō, president of the Council of the League of Nations, on 12 March 1926. The protest was ignored which only bolstered Lithuanian government's decision to seek closer relations with the Soviet Union.[27]

Reinys personally disapproved the government's decision to seek closer relations with the Soviet Union, but pursued its decision.[31] The negotiations began in December 1925 when People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs Georgy Chicherin stopped in Kaunas on his way to Moscow.[32] Reinys prepared the first draft of the Soviet–Lithuanian Non-Aggression Pact which was signed in September 1926, almost five months after Reinys' resignation.[33]

In July 1923, Reinys was named a prelate.[34] On 5 April 1926, one day after the papal bull which established the ecclesiastical province in Lithuania, Reinys was appointed as titular bishop of Tiddi and coadjutor bishop of the newly established Diocese of Vilkaviškis[35] which was established mainly from the territory of the Diocese of Sejny.[36] Reinys was consecrated in Kaunas Cathedral by Jurgis Matulaitis-Matulevičius, assisted by Juozapas Kukta and Justinas Staugaitis, on 16 May 1926.[37]

The new bishop Antanas Karosas was already 70-years old. Therefore, he was more passive and tolerant of bad behaviors.[38] Karosas and Reinys did not have a good working relationship as Karosas tried to keep Reinys out of diocese affairs.[39] This prompted a complaint by the younger priests to the Holy See in 1934.[38] Karosas was ordered to allow Reinys a more active role in the curia and allow him to supervise the Vilkaviškis Priest Seminary.[38] Reinys taught psychology at the seminary in 1934–1940.[40] He also conducted canonical visitations of various parishes,[41] led three-day Spiritual Exercises,[42] inspected religious education in schools,[43] etc.

Reinys was also active in a number of Lithuanian societies. Reinys was elected to the first board of the Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science.[44] He was its scientific secretary in 1922–1926, participated in its conferences, and was elected a true member in 1939.[45] Reinys was elected first treasurer of the Union for the Liberation of Vilnius in April 1925.[46] He was also elected to the board of Ateitis, Catholic youth organization, in 1927 and 1930. He was an honorary member and patron-protector of Pavasaris, another Catholic youth organization.[47] In 1927, Reinys prepared new statute for the Catholic Action Center based on the book by Civardi Luigi on the Catholic Action.[48]

In June–September 1937, Reinys toured Lithuanian American and Lithuanian Canadian communities.[34] Commemorating the 550th anniversary of the Christianization of Lithuania, he visited 52 parishes, delivered 67 sermons and 46 speeches, participated in congresses and other events of Lithuanian organizations.[21]

Vilnius Region was captured by the Soviet Union after the Invasion of Poland in 1939. Part of the region was transferred to Lithuania according to the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty. The Archdiocese of Vilnius remained part of the Polish ecclesiastical province.[49] Archbishop Romuald Jałbrzykowski supported Polonization efforts and restricted activities of Lithuanian or Belarusian priests.[49] When auxiliary archbishop Kazimierz Mikołaj Michalkiewicz died in February 1940, Lithuanians requested that Pope Pius XI appoint a Lithuanian auxiliary archbishop.[49] On 18 July 1940, Reinys was appointed titular archbishop of Cypsela and auxiliary archbishop of Vilnius.[34] Archbishop Jałbrzykowski met him with hostility, did not give him any duties in the curia, and complained about him to the Vatican.[50]

After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Vilnius Region became part of the Reichskommissariat Ostland. Since many Polish clergymen joined the anti-Nazi resistance, German Gestapo organized repressions.[51] For example, on 3 March 1942, they raided Vilnius Priest Seminary and arrested 14 professors and about 70 clerics. Lithuanians were later released, while Poles were taken for forced labor.[51] On 22 March, Germans arrested archbishop Jałbrzykowski and archdiocese's chancellor Adam Sawicki and interned them in Marijampolė.[52] This left Reinys as the administrator of the archdiocese, which was officially confirmed by the Vatican on 22 June 1942.[52] At the same time, Reinys inherited Jałbrzykowski's role as the apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Mohilev and the Diocese of Minsk.[53] However, German did not allow Reinys to function in these dioceses and limited his authority to the borders of the Generalbezirk Litauen.[54]

During an air raid by the Soviet forces on the night of 23 March 1942, a bomb fell onto the clergy house of the Church of Saint Nicholas, Vilnius.[55] It killed priest Kristupas Čibiras, severely injured Reinys and priest Vincentas Taškūnas. Reinys spent a month in hospital with a broken clavicle.[55]

Reinys negotiated with the German authorities to lessen repressions against the clergy. For example, he managed to secure release of 222 nuns and negotiated that arrested priest and monks would be transferred to work camps within Lithuania instead of the Nazi concentration camps.[52] He managed to reopen Vilnius Priest Seminary (it was closed twice by the Germans, in March 1942 and March 1943).[56] Reinys also continued pastoral work. He delivered sermons, held spiritual exercises, visited hospitals, etc.[43] Unlike Jałbrzykowski, Reinys supported the cult of the Divine Mercy image: he approved a Lithuanian chaplet for the Divine Mercy in May 1942 and allowed to celebrate the Second Sunday of Easter as the Divine Mercy Sunday at the Church of St. Johns, Vilnius in 1946.[57]

Reinys replaced the arrested Polish priests with Lithuanians and Belarusians in Lithuanian- or Belarusian-speaking parishes.[56] This drew ire from the Polish activists who started spreading rumors that repressions against the Polish clergy were orchestrated by Reinys and the Lithuanian Security Police so that Vilnius Region could be "Lithuanized". Polish–Lithuanian relations during World War II grew increasingly tense.[58]

Reinys removed a reference to Virgin Mary as the Queen of Poland in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Lithuanians and Belarusians did not agree with such prayer.[59] He also removed the Feast of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland (3 May) from the liturgical calendar for 1944 as the feast was prohibited by the Germans.[59] This became a particularly contentious issue. After complaints reached the Vatican, Reinys defended that the reinstatement of either the litany or the feast were not possible due to the political situation and offered to resign. Vatican told Reinys to be more sensitive to the Polish needs and did not accept his resignation.[59] Polish authors continue to portray Reinys as a Lithuanian chauvinist.[60]

After the Operation Bagration, Vilnius was captured by the Red Army and Jałbrzykowski returned to Vilnius on 8 August 1944 and Reinys was removed from the curia.[61] However, Jałbrzykowski was arrested by the Soviets in late January 1945 and Reinys returned as the administrator of the archdiocese.[61] Soviet NKGB attempted to use Reinys in its anti-Polish campaign and a purge of Polish priests, but he refused.[62]

Soviet NKVD began surveillance of Reinys soon after the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in June 1940. Surviving documents show that NKVD collected reports from 12 different agents in 1940–1941 that focused on Reinys' sermons and personal attitudes towards the Soviet regime and relations between Polish and Lithuanian clergy.[63]

Reinys was first briefly arrested on 6 September 1944 after a gathering of Lithuanian bishops which was not approved by the Soviets.[64] In November 1944, chief of the Lithuanian NKGB Aleksandras Gudaitis-Guzevičius and first secretary of the Lithuanian Communist Party Antanas Sniečkus wanted to arrest Reinys, but officials in Moscow suggested using Reinys to demoralize the anti-Soviet Lithuanian partisans.[62] As leverage, they used Reinys' two nephews imprisoned by the Soviets and seven relatives deported to Siberia during the June deportation in 1941.[lower-alpha 1][69]

In June 1945, Reinys was pressured by the NKGB to write an appeal to the Lithuanian partisans urging them to apply for the "amnesty" and "legalization" campaign announced by the NKGB. Reinys refused to cooperate.[70] On 9 August 1945, Reinys published circular Nežudyk (Thou Shall not Kill). However, it was so vague and abstract that even Soviet writers admitted its limited usefulness.[71] One could apply the circular to the NKGB and its operatives.[5][72] Nevertheless, thousands of copies of the circular were published and distributed in Lithuania.[71] In March 1946, Reinys issued an instruction to priests ordering them not to get involved in political agitation.[73]

In later part of 1946, anti-religious action intensified.[74] In late 1946, a representative of the Ministry of State Security (MGB) met with all remaining Lithuanian bishops. After these conversations, Teofilius Matulionis and Pranciškus Ramanauskas were arrested,[75] while Reinys was pressed to sign a pledge to consult Soviet security agencies on specified issues; Reinys refused.[73] He also refused to order priests to register with the Soviet authorities and support the establishment of parish committees which would allow Soviet agencies to intervene in church affairs.[76] Reinys was one last obstacle in this Soviet plan since other administrators of dioceses were inclined to cooperate.[73]

Symbolic grave of Reinys (left) in Daugailiai

Reinys was arrested by Soviet authorities on 12 June 1947. He was interrogated for more than 162 hours mostly at night.[77] His indictment was prepared after three months.[78] It listed specific instances of Reinys' anti-Soviet activities, which included participating in the activities of the Catholic Action Center in interwar Lithuania, publishing various anti-Soviet articles during the German occupation, providing financial support (300 Reichsmarks for the purpose of purchasing books)[79] to a battalion of the Lithuanian Auxiliary Police, attending a meeting of Lithuanian bishop in September 1944 which decided to seek religious lessons in schools and military chaplains in Red Army units, persuading bishop Vincentas Borisevičius not to cooperate with the NKGB in December 1945, and delivering a sermon defending the Vatican after a critical article was published in Sovetskaya Litva in June 1947.[80] These charges demonstrated how difficult it was for the Soviets to find something political in Reinys' actions.[81]

On 15 November 1947, the Special Council of the NKVD sentenced Reinys to eight years in prison and confiscation of property according to the Article 58 of the Penal Code for anti-Soviet agitation and participation in anti-Soviet organizations.[82] Reinys was informed of this decision on 25 December 1947 and transported to the Vladimir Central Prison in January 1948.[82] In early 1953, the Ministry of State Security (MGB) of the Lithuanian SSR prepared a plan of an investigation to uncover the supposed vast Lithuanian Catholic underground led by Reinys.[83] To that end, Reinys was interrogated in Vladimir Prison eight times in March 1953.[84]

In prison, Reinys wrote two clemency requests, one in March 1948 and another to Nikolai Shvernik in August 1948.[85] According to surviving records, Reinys wrote 17 times to the warden. He requested a subscription to Pravda (twice) and English-language The New Times as well as a copy of a book on psychology by Sergei Rubinstein (twice) – all of these requests were denied.[86] Reinys could write few letters to his relatives and receive packages. In 1949–1953, the packages were prohibited while the letters were limited to just two per year.[87] His cellmates included Russian monarchist Vasily Shulgin and leader of Latvian Jews Mordehai Dubin, as well as German diplomat Gotthold Starke and British soldier Frank Kelly who later wrote memoirs about Reinys in prison.[88][15]

Reinys died in the prison on 8 November 1953. His relatives were informed about his death only in May 1954.[89] The exact cause or circumstances of his death are not known.[82] He was buried in a mass grave; therefore, the exact location of his burial is unknown.[12] There are three symbolic graves of Reinys in Lithuania, all with some soil from the prison's cemetery: the churchyard in his native Daugailiai (July 1990), Deportees' Chapel in Vilnius Cathedral (June 2000), and sculpture of Pensive Christ in Skapiškis (July 2013).[90]