News from Lithuania

PLUNGE, LITHUANIA: The evangelistic seminar has begun in Plunge. On Friday, August the meetings opened with about 40 in attendance from the community. The next evening there were 55 in attendance, and it appears that all are very sincere and interested in knowing more about Word.

VILNIUS, LITHUANIA: The last week of July saw the visit of Alexi II, patriarch of Moscow and the Russian Orthodox Church to Vilnius. On July 27, Alexi II together with Roman Catholic Archbishop Bachkis participated in joint services, and finished by standing side by side to bless the people.

The Russian Patriarch said that the relationships between religions are very complicated in Europe, but that he was thankful that in Lithuania the people and the government are sincerely trying to find solutions to these problems.

Archbishop Bachkys responded by saying “In free Lithuania the Catholic and Orthodox churches can easily organise their work together and I would like very much to see the rights of the Catholic Church protected in the Russian Federation.”

Lithuanian President, Algirdas Brazauskas, who is personally acquainted with Alexi II, promised to help the patriarch solve his problems with different religious confessions and relations with them.

Bertold Hibner,
Lithuanian Mission Field Communication Director