George Matulaitis Journal

Chapter on all important matters. Here he also criticized the Chapter: P i=sud ski had not been received in a fitting manner; there was not enough pomp and ceremony. I replied that this was what had been decided on. 8) He went on to rebuke Father Kukta because he had been discredited, apparently because he had once been suspended. 1 I answered that he was my friend. 9) When something comes up, I always consult various priests, especially those who are knowledgeable about the issue at hand. From all this I could see that, in addition to the official Chapter, there is another secret Chapter which pursues its own ends. These priest- politicians are dissatisfied mostly because they do not have access to me with their advice and political intrigues. They are even irritated that my chaplain is Father Joseph, also a Lithuanian. He criticized me for not inviting the priests to confer with me. I answered that I consult the Chapter because it is the Bishop’s Council. Whenever necessary, I also consult the pastors, if the matters under discussion concern them. I conferred with the priests who teach religion on the school issue. However, I do not intend to hold public meetings because nothing of value comes of them. I guessed, and later my guess was confirmed, that Father Chomski was sent by the group of “endeks,” the Polish nationalist priests. Their leaders—Lubianiec, Songin, Kuleszo, Maciejewicz—were too crafty to come themselves, so they sent Chomski to see me. In the end I told this priest: Such is a bishop’s fate—that the priests use him as a target to vent their spleen. That is very sad because it is a sign that they lack the Spirit of Christ. And it is even sadder that these politicians drag the ignorant common people into their political intrigues and turn them against their bishop. Let them do as they wish. I shall follow the banner of Christ and will do the work of the Church. You, Sirs, can play at politics and, sens- ing danger, you will probably run away, 2 but I shall have to stay here and I shall suffer when necessary.” There have been many short-lived coups and governments here in Vilnius and they have all tried to drag me into 258 1 He was one of the four priests suspended by Msgr. Michalkiewicz in 1917 because of the famous mem- orandum. 2 During the Bolshevik occupation, many of the Polish priests fled from Vilnius to Poland, leaving churches and parishes vacant. Some of them came back when the Bolsheviks were gone, but some did not.