Society
Lithuania celebrates Assumption
The Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven is marked by Catholics in Lithuania on the 15th of August when the first harvest of fruit and berries is sanctified. […]
Religion
Foreign affairs
History
Charms and superstitions of pagan Lithuanians
Lithuania remained pagan until the late Middle Ages and, as such, was an object of curiosity as well as hostility for Christian Europe. Paganism, wrote thirteenth-century Franciscan scholar Bartholomew the Englishman, was “ritus mirabilis”. Christian scholars who described pagan rituals did not shy away from negative stereotyping, although sometimes their writings give neutral, almost ethnographic descriptions.
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Society
Lithuania’s Muslims at odds with Vilnius authorities over new mosque
Lithuania’s Muslim community has been trying to build a mosque in Vilnius for over a decade, but it has yet to reach an agreement with the city’s authorities.
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Society
1,500 Lithuanians head for Krakow to meet with Pope Francis
Around 1,500 young people from across Lithuania are heading to Krakow for World Youth Day 2016 celebrations, which will culminate in a meeting with Pope Francis.
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Culture
Photo exhibition in Klaipėda explores Baltic pagan rites
A photography exhibition in Klaipėda explores pagan traditions in traditional Baltic festivals. […]
CORPORATE
Witchcraft, holy trees and Lithuania’s last pagans
Lithuanians, the last pagans of Europe, took their time to fully embrace Christianity in their daily lives and mixed it with older pagan rites. The religious sensibilities of Lithuanian peasants in the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries is a topic of a new study by historian Vytautas Ališauskas. […]
Society
CORPORATE
‘There is no institution like the Vatican in Islam that can excommunicate extremist Muslims’
There were some 13 million Muslims living in Europe several years ago, according to Pew Research Center, and several more million have come from Syria and Iraq over the last few years. Professor Egdūnas Račius of the Kaunas-based Vytautas Magnus University says that religion is not always the right lens through which to look at and make sense of the world’s Muslims. […]
Culture
Lithuanian church voted most beautiful Catholic church in world
Lithuania‘s St. Peter and Paul‘s Church in Vilnius has topped the Catholicsay.com list of the 16 most beautiful churches in the world. […]
CORPORATE
“National conscience” Marcinkevičius stirs emotions, national debate from beyond the grave
Diverging views on poetry has become an issue of a heated debate on history and censorship after Lithuania’s minister of defence denied a state award to an author whose analysis of the Soviet past did not match the minister’s own opinion. At the centre of the controversy is the poet Justinas Marcinkevičius whose name, for many, is synonymous with the country’s independence movement. […]
CORPORATE
Turkey to translate Koran into Lithuanian
Turkey‘s Directorate of Religious Affairs is to translate the Koran into the Lithuanian language. The Muslim Holy book was first translated to Lithuanian language in 2008 by poet Sigitas Geda. […]
CORPORATE
Pope Francis personally greets Lithuanian disabled pilgrims
Pope Francis welcomed pilgrims from countries around the world at a general audience yesterday, among them were a group of 15 people from Lithuania – and many of them were greeted with a personal handshake. […]
Society
Atheists in Lithuania know more about religion than believers
Although surveys show that less than 2% of Lithuanians are atheists, they know more about religion than the rest of the population, Lithuania researcher Rasa Bendaravičienė told LRT Radio. […]
Society
Society
There will be no mosque in Vilnius, liberal mayor says
There are no plans to build a mosque in Vilnius as Lithuania prepares to take in Muslim refugees, Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius says. […]
Culture
Renovation of synagogue starts in Vilnius
Renovation works of the synagogue on Gėlių Street in Vilnius has been started, the Department of Cultural Heritage said on Tuesday. […]
Society
Lithuanian justice minister says religious communities and sects pose no danger
Religious communities and sects present in Lithuania are not dangerous, Justice Minister Juozas Bernatonis said. […]
Society
Society
Nearly EUR 640,000 distributed among Lithuania’s religious communities
Lithuania’s government distributed nearly 640,000 euros among the country’s traditional religious communities. […]