George Matulaitis Journal

On Friday morning I invited Father Vailokaitis 1 over to read him the letter. Then I called together Father Lubianiec, Maciejewicz, Kretowicz, and Steckiewicz and read it to them. They thought that some things should be omitted. I deferred to their opinion, crossed out some things, and turned it over to the printer. Even though the Bolsheviks had taken over the printing presses and requisitioned the paper, we succeeded in finding some people who took the responsibility for getting the letter printed. On Friday evening I translated the letter into Lithuanian, since I had written the original in Polish. When we were discussing the letter, Father Maciejewicz had taken a very radical stance: he wanted me to perform a solemn reconsecration of St. Casimir’s Church so people would realize that it had been desecrated. He wanted the procession to be a kind of demonstration. I replied that, in my opinion, no reconsecration was necessary because there had been no loss of life and that it was not a good idea to have a demonstration, since the Bolsheviks had just passed a decree forbidding public meetings of more than five people. A demonstration would end in riots and bloodshed. The other priests agreed with me. In general, I have noticed that here in Vilnius some priests immediately want to use various incidents as an excuse for staging national and political demonstrations. A bishop must be very careful in this respect. There are those who want to increase tensions and arouse the people’s emotions until they reach the breaking point. On Saturday (February 15th) 2 they printed my letter separately in Polish and in Lithuanian. I did not have it published in Belorussian, since that language is not used in any of the churches in Vilnius. The Lithuanian version of the letter was badly done. Father Janusevi ius, 3 my second secretary, read the proofs, but, not being familiar with the language, he did a poor job. Unfortunately, they had not sent me a copy before printing. In some parts of the city 4 Red Army soldiers have beaten up some Jews and urged the people to join them and also to point out Jewish 192 1 Juozapas Vailokaitis (1880-1953): a graduate of the Theological Academy of St. Petersburg, ordained in 1905. From 1907 to 1910 he edited a Lithuanian weekly paper that spoke out against Russian rule in Lithuania. During WW I, he worked in St. Petersburg organizing and helping the Lithuanian refugees there. On his return to Vilnius, he established the Lithuanian Catholic Workers’ Organization founded in St. Petersburg. 2 This first pastoral letter was actually dated February 16, 1919, the date of the Sunday when it was to be read in the churches. 3 Jurgis Janusevi ius worked as notary at the chancery from 1914. He was Lithuanian, but did not know the language very well. 4 The old part of the city called U upis n Lithuanian and Zarzecze in Polish.