George Matulaitis Journal

February 16 During the past week I have had a great deal of work, trouble, and grief about Father Friedrich Muckermann’s case. He is a Jesuit. 1 The Catholic Church of St. Casimir 2 was seized, I think, in 1840, by the Russian government and turned into St. Nicholas Orthodox Church. After they occupied Vilnius, the Germans allowed the Lutheran soldiers to have their services there for some time. Then they turned the church over to the Catholic troops. Their chaplain was Father Muckermann. Our people remembered the church’s Catholic past and also began to go to Mass there in ever greater numbers. Father Muckermann, having learned some Polish, preached to the people in Polish. The Russian Orthodox clergy tried to get the church back. They petitioned the German government, but their efforts were in vain. Then they tried to take the church by force, but the people refused to let them in. Just after I arrived in Vilnius, the Russian Orthodox Bishop 3 immediately sent me a request by one of his priests, then in person, that I order the church returned to the Orthodox people. I replied that the church had been built by Catholics and that, although confiscated by the Russian government, the people had always felt that it belonged to them and had taken this opportunity to get it back. As far as I was able to gauge the mood of the people, they would not let the church be taken away from them now. I advised the Orthodox Bishop not to interfere in this matter during such a period of tension because he could incite the Catholic masses against him. I said that I myself did not intend to get involved in this problem. The German authorities had taken possession of the church and they were still in 185 1 Friedrich Muckermann (1883-1946): A German Jesuit who worked in Vilnius from 1915-1919. Gifted as a preacher and in pastoral ministry, he was concerned with social reform and became involved in organiz- ing the workers of Vilnius. 2 Begun in 1604 on the occasion of the canonization of St. Casimir, it was built by the Jesuits of Vilnius. In 1615, they built their residence next to it. The largest baroque church in Vilnius, it has a stormy history. 3 The author uses the Russian term “arkhierei,” but we have substituted the more familiar term “bishop.”