Telšiai Bishop Vincentas Borisevičius Priest Seminary

Telšiai Bishop Vincentas Borisevičius Priest Seminary (Lithuanian: Telšių Vyskupo Vincento Borisevičiaus kunigų seminarija) is a former Roman Catholic seminary in Telšiai, Lithuania. It was founded in 1927 by Justinas Staugaitis, the first bishop of Telšiai. It was closed in 1946 by Soviet authorities. By that time, it educated about 150 priests. The seminary was reestablished in 1989 and recognized as a private university in 2000. In 2020, the seminary was reorganized to offer only one-year propaedeutic course. Therefore, it lost its accreditation in 2021.

History

Establishment

The Diocese of Telšiai was established by the papal bull Lithuanorum Gente issued on 4 April 1926. Its first bishop Justinas Staugaitis quickly became concerned with the lack of priests in the diocese. Kaunas Priest Seminary had only 26 Samogitian seminarians who were expected to return to work in the diocese. According to canon law (since the Council of Trent) and the Concordat of 1927, each diocese is obliged to have its own priest seminary. Staugaitis pursued the idea of a seminary despite critics who pointed out lack of funds and qualified teachers.

Staugaitis announced the new seminary on 5 June 1927. It was officially opened on 4 October 1927 (1927-10-04) with 41 students. Vincentas Borisevičius became the first rector of the seminary (he later became the second bishop of Telšiai). Initially, it was a minor seminary or lyceum which provided secondary education to students interested in priesthood. Plans for a major seminary (seminarium maius) were opposed by prime minister Augustinas Voldemaras who appealed to the Holy See hoping to limit the number of priest seminaries in Lithuania to two (Kaunas and Vilkaviškis). The Holy See agreed if each diocese could have a minor seminary or "two-year preparatory theological school". However, Staugaitis persisted and elevated the seminary to a major seminary in 1929.

Interwar

Because seminary's curriculum was equivalent to that of a public school, the diocese requested funding from the Lithuanian government, but the ruling Lithuanian Nationalist Union was not favorable to the Catholic church and refused the requests until 1930. That year, the government agreed to pay salaries to teachers, but not those teaching religious or theological subjects. The government also did not recognize theological degrees granted by the seminary. In his memoirs, Staugaitis described an incident where Steponas Rusteika, minister of internal affairs, attempted to install an agent at the seminary and provoke one seminarian to write a paper criticizing president Antanas Smetona. In another incident, two of seminary's lecturers were accused of delivering anti-government lectures.

To get more qualified teachers for the seminary, bishop Staugaitis sent several priests to be educated in Rome. According to available data, 26 priests taught in pre-war seminary, including bishop Pranciškus Būčys, future bishops Vincentas Borisevičius and Petras Maželis, future diocese administrator Justinas Juodaitis, and former Lithuanian representative in Vatican Jurgis Narjauskas. A papal representative inspected the seminary in 1938 and reported that students were exemplary in religiosity and studiousness, but teachers had other jobs and commitments thus were not always able to properly prepare for lectures.

Seminary's building

At first, the seminary used the western wing of the former Bernardine monastery. The eastern wing was derelict and needed repairs that cost 73,780 litas. Staugaitis initiated the construction of a new seminary building based on a project by the architect Povilas Taračkovas. The construction cost was estimated at 351,214 litas. Diocese's priests raised 164,000 litas and the congregation raised 84,000 litas. Additional funds were raised by Juozapas Valaitis who toured various communities of Lithuanian Americans and collected about $40,000 in two years. The government did not provide cash, but supplied timber.

The construction started in May 1928 and was completed in six months. The new building was consecrated on 16 December 1928. It was built on a hill offering views of the city. It had four floors on the northern half, and three floors on the southern half. It was equipped with central heating and plumbing. It had three large halls for meetings and 40 rooms. The ground floor had a chapel with a sacristy. By 1939, the seminary outgrew the premises but reconstruction plans were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II.

After the war, the building was nationalized and, at various times, used for offices of a local newspaper, teacher's seminary, and school for the deaf. The building was reconstructed when the seminary reopened, but it is criticized for not matching architectural style of the older buildings in the complex. In 2023, the seminary had 82 residential rooms, but most of them were vacant due to the declining student enrollment. As a result, the seminary started offering the rooms to tourists and other visitors. The building also houses an exposition of sacral heritage of the Samogitian Museum Alka.

Rectors

Seminary's rectors were:

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)