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Rome and the Vatican

This is a provisional article after being rewritten after the 2024 Lithuanian heritage research field trip across Europe. Please do not share it now as it may be updated but please notify us about any needed corrections in the comments.

Rome has been the center of the Catholic world for 2000 years. In the Middle Ages, this also meant the political heart of Europe. With the Christianization of Lithuania (13th-15th centuries) the Grand Dukes of Lithuania participated in many then-important deliberations: possible Catholic-Orthodox union, and wars against Ottomans. Rome's importance continued throughout the 20th century when the Vatican refused to recognize the Soviet occupation of Lithuania (1940-1990) and the church supported Lithuanians' plight for freedom.

Lithuanian Chapel in the Vatican

In 1970 when the Soviet military might and human rights abuses made it hard to even dream about free Lithuania, the Vatican opened a Lithuanian chapel in its famous St. Peter Basilica (the most important Catholic church in the world). Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn proudly hangs behind its altar (a copy of a sacred painting that is the religious heart of Vilnius), giving its name to the chapel. It is one of just a few national chapels in the Vatican.

Lithuanian chapel in the Vatican

The walls of the chapel are decorated with bas-reliefs of Lithuanian rulers, bishops, martyrs, saints, first Lithuanian churches, and patriotic symbols, all created by a famous Lithuanian-American sculptor Vytautas Kazimieras Jonynas.

The original idea was to name the chapel after the Lithuanian Martyrs – Lithuanians who have been killed for their faith in Lithuania, many of them then-recently by the Soviet Union. However, at the time, the Vatican was following a complex “Ostpolitik”, whereby, on the one hand, it never recognized the Soviet occupation of Lithuania and criticized the Soviet mistreatment of Catholics, on the other hand, it tried to go too hard on this to avoid the operation of the Catholic church being banned altogether and even more Catholics of the Soviet-ruled areas being imprisoned and killed. The Lithuanian chapel is a good representation of that “Ostpolitik”: on the one hand, the Lithuanian Martyrs name was dropped in favor of a more neutral Our Lady of Gate of Dawn, on the other hand, the persecutions of Lithuanians at the hands of Russians are well-represented on the right wall of the chapel.

The bas-reliefs on the right wall include the “Siberian Book of Prayers” “Marija gelbėk mus” (“Mary Save Us”). Written by a religious Lithuanian Catholic teacher Adelė Dirsytė, who had been exiled to inhospitable Siberia by the Russians, this book was smuggled to the West and published in America in 1959 (after Dirsytė died in exile in 1955). Later, it was translated to many languages, becoming the most widely published Lithuanian work of literature and spreading the word about the Soviet persecutions of Lithuanians and Catholics in Lithuania.

Adelė Dirsytė bas-reliefs

There are also bas-reliefs of a fallen person in front of Kražiai church depicting the 1893 Kražiai Massacre, where the Lithuanian Catholics who protested against the closure of the church were attacked and killed by Russian Cossacks during the previous Russian Imperial occupation of Lithuania (1795-1915). Then, next to the bas-relief of St. Casimir, the patron saint of Lithuania (1458-1484), there is a bas-relief of St. Josaphat Kuncevitius (Josaphat Kuntsevych, 1580-1623), who campaigned for a union between the Orthodox and Catholic churches within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, giving birth to the Uniate (a.k.a. Eastern Rite Catholic) church that follows an Eastern Orthodox rite but recognizes the Papal primacy. He was lynched by Russian Orthodox in 1623. Recognized as a martyr, his remains rest within the main hall of St. Peter’s Basilica itself.

St. Josaphat and St. Casimir bas-reliefs

In addition to the images, the Travertine stone that is used for all décor itself is symbolic. It is a reminiscence of the Roman catacombs where early Christians used to hide from Imperial persecutions (events that were a 1700-year-old history in Rome but a modern truth in Lithuania where Soviets led a major anti-Christian drive which included murdering the religious).

The left side of the chapel also has Travertine bas-reliefs but these represent the glory of free Lithuania long before the Russian conquests. One bas-relief depicts Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas (1350-1430) holding a Lithuanian coat of arms. Another one depicts the joint king of Lithuania and Poland Jogaila (1348-1434) with columns of Gediminas next to him, and the first Catholic king of Lithuania Mindaugas during his baptism. There are also bas-reliefs depicting the churches of Kaunas and Vilnius and a coat of arms of Vilnius.

Jogaila and Vytautas bas-reliefs

The left wall also has a niche opening up to a now-walled original access corridor to grave of St Peter. The niche was covered with a large sculpture Rūpintojėlis (a traditional Lithuanian figure of a worried Jesus) created by Italian Alcide Ticò and not fully adhering to the convention.

Rūpintojėlis with a crypt behind him

The metal entrance door to the chapel includes a unique reimagination of the Lithuanian coat of arms Vytis. On both sides of the doors, there are two papal coats of arms: that of Innocent IV, who reigned when King Mindaugas was baptized, and that of Pope Paul VI, who reigned when the chapel was opened.

Vytis in the door of the chapel

Consecration of the chapel was attended by 500 Lithuanians - all of them from the diaspora (from North and South America, Western Europe, Australia, and Africa) as the Soviet occupational regime forbade Lithuanians from traveling to the Western world. The idea of the Lithuanian chapel was therefore developed by the diaspora and they were a prime source of pilgrimages to the chapel for the upcoming 20 years. Interestingly, the chapel was one of the first locations where the Polish Pope John Paul II prayed after being elected.

After Lithuanian independence (1990) Lithuanian citizens were quick to discover the Eternal City and this chapel (~1995 the first Lithuanian language guidebook to be published about a Western location had Rome as its topic). The chapel is not always accessible, though. Located in the Vatican crypts not far away from the grave of St. Peter (basement of the Basilica), it is officially opened for prayers of pilgrim groups for primate masses. However, it may be possible to ask the guard to let you inside.

Other Lithuanian sites in the Vatican

In the main hall of St. Peter’s Basilica itself, the remains of Josaphat Kuntsevych are resting.

Kuntsevych's remains in the upper basilica

Additionally, in the Teutonic Cemetery not far away from the basilica, Bronislovas Kačergius, a young Lithuanian Marian priest who died in Rome in 1924, is buried in a grave of a German and Hungarian College.

The grave where Kačergius is buried at

There is also a Lithuanian Cross in the Vatican Gardens. Unlike the free-to-access St. Peter’s Basilica, the gardens may only be accessed with guides as they are in a part of the Vatican normally reserved for those working there.

Two Vatican-and-Lithuania-related sites are actually located outside of the Vatican. The Lithuanian embassy to the Holy See was one of the few Lithuanian diplomatic missions to continue operation throughout the Soviet occupation but it has moved from location to location, not having its own building and operating in rented premises.

Vatican Radio famously has Lithuanian programming since 1940 11 27. The radio HQ is located outside the Vatican. Sections of different languages have their rooms there, including one for Lithuanian journalists, however, these are not accessible to the public.

Lithuanian Pontifical College of St. Casimir

The grandest Lithuanian buildings in Rome are undoubtedly those of the Lithuanian College of St. Casimir. These are two identical 19th-century palaces at Piazza Asti. One of them, with the coat of arms of Our Lady of Vilnius on its tower, houses the college itself, while the other one, with a coat of arms of Lithuania on its tower, houses Villa Lituania, a guesthouse that is often chosen as a place of stay by pilgrims from Lithuania who travel to Rome.

St. Casimir Lithuanian College

The Lithuanian College serves as a place of communal living for Lithuanian priests who come to study in Rome. Numerous Catholic nationalities have similar colleges in Rome. While there was an idea to establish a Lithuanian college well before World War 2, it was established only after World War 2, during some of the darkest times for Lithuania when the Soviet Genocide was in full swing there. With no more connection between the Vatican and the dioceses in Soviet-occupied Lithuania, unlike other Colleges, this one is named “Pontifical” as it was initially responsible directly to the Pope rather than the Lithuanian bishops. At the time, 23 Lithuanian priests and 20 clerics came to Rome as refugees, having fled the Soviet-occupied Lithuania, making the need to acquire a Lithuanian building to house them acuter.

Our Lady of Vilnius image on the tower

The College building, a monastery at the time, was acquired in 1946 mostly thanks to Lithuanian-American donations, especially those of Antanas Briška, a Lithuanian priest from Chicago who had been collecting money for such a college. Since 1984, the College is supported by the Knights of Lithuania Lithuanian-American Catholic organization. As such, at the entrance of the College, there is a bust for A. Briška, and a plaque with a symbol of Knights of Lithuania, inscribed “Lietuvos Vyčiai – pagrindiniai kolegijos rėmėjai” (Knights of Lithuania – the main sponsors of the college). Another plaque depicts the college buildings, the St. Peter’s Basilica, and Lithuanian coat of arms. The College was officially opened in 1948.

Antanas Briška bust in the College

The College also includes a Lithuanian chapel with the Cross of Vytis under its altar and pulpit. This Lithuanian symbol is also featured many times on the College’s fence. In the college’s courtyard, a wooden Sculpture of St. Casimir stands, built for the 60th anniversary of the college, depicting the Lithuanian patron saint and the Xollege’s coat of arms.

St. Casimir monument at the yard of the College

College's chapel

The interior of the college hosts lots of Lithuanian memorabilia, the largest of which is a huge artful map of Lithuania originally created by Urba in Switzerland in 1936 and now adorning the College’s main hall.

The map at the hall of the College

The Villa Lituania building (the main palace’s twin) was acquired by the College in the late 1950s after the College received a sizeable legacy. Initially, that building was used to house the relatives of priests who came to visit them. Eventually, staffed by Lithuanian-American nuns, it used to receive all the Lithuanian pilgrims from the diaspora and, after Lithuania became independent in 1990, also from Lithuania itself. It also became popular among German pilgrims. The initial building was expanded by an annex in 1960. It has 65 rooms and may host 140 guests. It is no longer served by Lithuanian-American nuns due to their declining numbers, though. Anyone can stay there now.

The role of the college changed over time. At times, it also served as a seminary, preparing priests for the Lithuanian parishes worldwide. After Lithuania became independent in 1990, it also received numerous priests from Lithuania, with the hope being that these priests would learn more about the global church this way after long years of isolation of Lithuania from the rest of the Catholic world. This program has ended though, with the College now being just a College; in addition to Lithuanians, priests of other ethnicities could also live here.

Cross of Vytis on the fence of the College

In the past, College also owned a farm in Tivoli which helped it earn money to survive. It had been sold.

Lithuanian funerary chapel at Verano Cemetery

Rome is the only city in Western Europe where Lithuanians have their chapel in the cemetery. Located in the famous St. Lawrence (Verano) cemetery, this chapel belongs to the Pontifical St. Casimir Lithuanian College. The most famous burial there is that of Kazimieras Šaulys, a priest who was one of merely 20 signatories of the 1918 Lithuanian Declaration of Independence. While after World War 2 he lived in Lugano, Switzerland, his remains were moved here, and he is said to have envisioned such a chapel in Rome as a kind of pantheon for famous Lithuania refugees who fled the Soviet occupation.

Lithuanian chapel at the Verano Cemetery

That said, it is owned by the College, and the chapel has mostly people related to the College interred there. Those interred are the bishop Vincentas Podolskis, leader of Lithuanian-Italian community priest Vincas Mincevičius, Lithuanian ambassador to the Holy See Stanislovas Girdvainis, chairman of the American Lithuanian charity fund Juozas Končius, Lithuanian Brazilian general vicar and vice-rector of the St. Casimir Lithuanian college Zenonas Ignatavičius, priest Jonas Buikus, deacon Augustinas Lišauskas, nun Eulalia Hoff, Vladas Delininkaitis, Stasys Žilys, Nijolė Tutkaitė, Kazimieras Dobrovolskis, Jonas Bulaitis. The interior of the chapel has a stained-glass window by Vytautas Švarlys depicting St. Casimir and the St. Casimir’s Church of Vilnius, Lithuania superimposed on the Vilnius Cathedral.

Stained-glass window inside the chapel

Verano Cemetery has more Lithuanian burials. Lithuanian priests of the Marian order (once saved from extinction by a Lithuanian Jurgis Matulaitis) are resting in a common Marian grave near the Lithuanian chapel, while Lithuanian Jesuit priests are buried in a Jesuit crypt.

Marian graves where some Lithuanian priests are buried as well

Lithuanian marks at the famous places of Rome

With Lithuania being Christian since the 14th century, there were always ties between the Lithuanian nobility and the elite of the Catholic church. These ties are visible at some of the most historic and touristic locations of Rome.

One of the most visited churches of Rome Chiesa del Gesù (the heart of the Jesuits) is also the final resting place of the first Lithuanian cardinal and a bishop of Vilnius Jurgis Radvila (epitaph on the floor: "Cardinalis Radzivili Episcopi Cravoviensis Ducis Olicae Et Niesvisii" - "Cardinal Radvila, the Bishop of Cracow and Duke of Olyka and Nesvyžius"). In the peak of his career, he was one of Europe's important elite and he died in the Eternal City in 1600. It is symbolic that this church is considered to be the first Baroque church in the world and Baroque would later have a major architectural impact on Vilnius. By the way, the second Baroque church in the world was built in Nesvyžius (modern-day Belarus), in a manor owned by Radvila family.

Church of Gesu, where cardinal Radivla is resting

Moreover, right at the top of the famous Spanish Steps, there is a palace Palazzetto Zuccari with Lithuanian (and Polish) coats of arms above its entrance. These were installed back in the Queen Marie Casimire of Poland-Lithuania who used to stay in the palace.

Lithuanian and Polish coats of arms on the Palazzetto Zuchari

Villa Lituania, “the final occupied territory of Lithuania”

While today Villa Lituania usually refers to the guesthouse of St. Casimir Lithuanian College (see above), this name was chosen for that guesthouse for a reason, as this used to be a name of a large villa that was acquired by interwar Lithuania in 1937 for 3 million liras)to serve as an embassy. However, Italy illegally transferred the building to the Soviets under Soviet pressure. Russian diplomats still use the building. Italian government recognized the illegality of its predecessor's actions but could not offer restitution instead of suggesting some alternative proposals.

Villa Lituania nowadays

Diplomats at Villa Lituania. The building, surrounded by a park, still exists although trees largely cover it from the street. Historical image.

For many years, Lithuania would decline the Italian proposals as not being of comparable value. In 2013, however, Lithuania finally agreed, despite the proposal being that for a 99 year use rather than ownership and for just a part of a historic building instead of a whole historic building that Villa Lituania was.

That said, with the conclusion of the conflict, the popular designation of Villa Lituania as the "Final occupied territory of Lithuania" is now used less often.

Piazza Lituania

From the Medieval times until some 1930s nobles and priests used to be the Lithuanians who explored Rome the most. The first sizeable gentile community was formed in the 1940s when post-war refugees arrived in Rome. It soon established ties not just with the Vatican but also with Italian Christian Democrats. Disregarding the protests of local far-left activists the Christian Democrats supported Lithuanian independence. A relic of these times is a square in Rome named Piazza Lituania.

Piazza Lituania

Lithuanian heritage beyond Rome

Lithuanian heritage in Italy beyond Rome is described in another article.