Pastoral Care Run by Redemptorists Among the Poles in the Soviet Republics of Lithuania and Belarus in the Years of 1939-1990

Abstract

This paper depicts the commitment of Redemptorists to Polish-speaking pastoral care in Lithuania and Belarus after the outbreak of World War II. It begins with the establishment of a monastery in Pospieszka in Vilnius in 1939. Then it shows its function and the degree of pastoral care run by this religious community during World War II under the changing political circumstances until the closing down of the institution and repatriation of the Redemptorists to the Polish People’s Republic. Then it describes Fr. Franciszek Świątek’s apostolate among the Poles in the Vilnius region, in Belarus (1946-1976), and the pastoral activity of Fr. Jan Bartos (1969-1990).