Holy Father Pope Francis is scheduled to undertake an apostolic journey to three Baltic nations from the 22nd to 25th of September when he will visit the cities of Vilnius and Kaunas in Lithuania, Riga and Aglona in Latvia and Tallinn in Estonia. The Pontiff’s visit marks the first papal trip to the countries in a quarter of a century. The theme for his visit to Lithuania is “Christ Jesus – Our Hope.”
As reported by Vatican news, His Excellency Archbishop Gintaras Grušas of Vilnius in Lithuania remarked that “I see the finger of God” in making this visit happen as well as the direction that Pope Francis takes in general, a direction that is oriented towards the peripheries – be they social, economic, existential or geographic – and these countries, he said are on the periphery of Europe. Pope Francis is interested in the ecumenism of martyrdom as demonstrated by his visit to Albania. Lithuania has a history of martyrdom, as well as being a nation where issues such as migration and human trafficking affect contemporary society.” Describing the state of the relationship between the Catholic Church and the State as a very good one, Grušas explained that after independence the state recognized the role played by the Church during the occupation in “preserving both faith and the hope for freedom: that was valued by the people and by the Government”.
His Grace Grušas concluded his remarks by reflecting on his own feelings of joy for the upcoming papal journey: “With the Pope’s arrival we expect the guest who represents God’s presence: we are preparing to have a great guest.”
