Lenkų Apaštalavimas Lietuvoje
Šaltasis Karas ir Sąjūdis
Cold War & Sąjūdis · 1980–1990
Published in 1987 during the Cold War & Sąjūdis period.
This is the third edition of Kun. Kazimieras Prapuolenis's polemical historical-ecclesiastical treatise documenting the systematic Polonization of Lithuania through the Catholic Church hierarchy from the Jagiellonian era through the early 20th century. Written by a Lithuanian priest who served for nearly 20 years in the Metropolis curia and was an eyewitness to the events he describes, the work is a foundational text of Lithuanian national-ecclesiastical consciousness. It argues with documented archival evidence — citing Acta Capituli, Polish chronicles, and Sorbonne dissertations — that Polish ecclesiastical interests deliberately suppressed Lithuanian language and identity within Catholic institutions, making it a rare insider clerical critique of Polish-Lithuanian Church relations.
What It Is
This work represents a fascinating intersection of Lithuanian Catholic identity and nationalist historiography that was central to diaspora intellectual culture throughout the 20th century. Prapuolenis's thesis — that the Catholic Church was used as a vector for cultural genocide against Lithuanians — challenged diaspora communities to simultaneously maintain their Catholic faith and their Lithuanian identity as distinct, even opposed, from Polish Catholic institutional dominance. The book's three editions spanning from approximately the independence period through diaspora years demonstrate the persistence of this ideological project across generations and political upheavals.
Why It Matters
Culturally and historically, 'Lenkų Apaštalavimas Lietuvoje' is one of the foundational texts of Lithuanian ecclesiastical nationalism — the intellectual tradition that insisted Lithuanian Catholic identity was distinct from and endangered by Polish Catholic institutional dominance. Written by a priest who served as an eyewitness in the St. Petersburg metropolitan curia and documented Polish clerical suppression of Lithuanian language in churches and schools, it provided the intellectual scaffolding for Lithuanian demands for Lithuanian-language parishes, schools, and clergy throughout the 20th century. Its three editions spanning from approximately 1918 through the diaspora period demonstrate that this argument remained live and contested across generations, making it not just a historical document but a continuously deployed ideological resource.