Appointment of New Cardinal Recognizes Latvian Suffering

By Michael Flach
HERALD Editor
(From the issue of 2/8/01)

The appointment of Archbishop Janis Pujats to the rank of cardinal is an honor for the Church in Latvia and recognition of decades of suffering under the Communist regime, said Bishop Anton Justs of Jelgava.

"The Church is now a moral and spiritual force in Latvia," said Bishop Justs, who served as pastor of St. Mark Parish in Vienna prior to his return to his native Latvia in 1991. He was ordained a bishop by the pope in 1996.

Unlike other institutions in the country, "the Church is believable," he said. "The people know the Church is not corrupt. It is trustworthy. Confidence in the Church is high."

Archbishop Pujats of Riga will be among 44 new cardinals elevated by Pope John Paul II at the Feb. 21 consistory in Rome.

The pope announced last week that Archbishop Pujats, 70, and Archbishop Marian Jaworski of Lviv, Ukraine, were named cardinals "in pectore'' in 1998, the last time the pope named cardinals.

At that time Archbishop Pujats was making news by publicly urging Russia to stop interfering in Latvia's internal affairs, particularly on the status of Latvia's Russian minority.

The pope said that with the naming of Cardinals-designate Jaworski and Pujats, he wanted to honor East European Catholic communities that offered heroic example to the rest of the church in the 20th century.

``They knew how to witness their faith among sufferings of every kind, which not infrequently culminated in the sacrifice of one's life,'' he said.

Archbishop Pujats will celebrate his 50th anniversary in the priesthood this March. He was ordained in 1951 when he was only 21 years old. The Communist government was threatening to close the seminary at that time, so the bishop of Riga ordained all the seminarians earlier than scheduled.

The cardinal-designate, who was appointed archbishop of Riga in 1990, is self-taught on many levels, Bishop Justs said. He studied English for a year in the United States and spoke Latin at the recent Synod of Bishops in Rome. He has become known at the "Latin bishop of Riga." When the Latvian bishops made their ad limina visit to the Vatican the archbishop spoke in Latin to the heads of the congregations.

During Soviet domination, then-Father Pujats operated a secret printing press in the seminary so he could distribute literature to students who were preparing to make their first communion, Bishop Justs said. The KGB (secret police) was always after him, but he kept moving around to avoid capture.

Bishop Justs returned to the Arlington Diocese for a few weeks in late January and early February to receive medical and dental care. The medical system in Latvia is corrupt and inefficient, he said. "To get anything done, you have to bribe the doctor and nurses, otherwise you don’t get treated."

During his five years as head of the Jelgava Diocese, Bishop Justs’ focus has been on the elderly, orphans and young people. He is building a new Diocesan Center in Jelgava located behind the Cathedral. It will house administrative offices, the bishop’s residence and priests’ quarters.

Recently his diocese has expanded its outreach to include prison ministry. Jelgava has two prisons. One is "maximum security" by U.S. standards. The other is "more open," Bishop Justs said.

"One wing of the minimum-security prison is self-administered," he said. "The prisoners clean and cook for themselves. They must agree to practice their Christian faith, to reform their lives."

Thirty to 40 prisoners are in the ecumenical program. The Jelgava Diocese provides material such as paint and furniture. The prisoners provide the labor.

Bishop Justs said homelessness is a growing problem in Latvia. Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity has sent four sisters to Latvia to deal with the problem.

The winters are so severe that some homeless men intentionally break the law so they will be incarcerated for six months during the winter, Bishop Justs said. "At least in prison they will have a roof over their heads and hot meals.

"Latvia is still dealing with the effects of the Soviet system," the bishop said. "We take two steps ahead, then one step back."

Most government officials were educated by the Communist regime, so they still have a Communist mindset, he said.

"The education system still suffers from Communist mentality. That is changing at the top, but the middle bureaucracy is slow to change. It will take a generation."

There is no philosophical understanding that a human being is a special creation of God as in the Christian point of view, Bishop Justs said.

"The Soviet regime was cruel and violent," he said. "What needs to be improved is a better understanding of human rights and Christian charity toward one another."

Publicly, things appear to be changing. Latvia’s Marian Shrine of Aglona is the site of an annual pilgrimage on Aug. 15. Last year, 350,000 people — or 50 percent of the country’s total Catholic population — visited the Shrine. Some pilgrims took two weeks to walk to the Shrine.

"It was the largest public celebration in Latvian history," Bishop Justs said.

Six hundred young people from Latvia attended World Youth Day in Rome last August. The event inspired Latvian Church officials to organize a national youth rally this year at Aglona from June 29 to July 1. It will be the first gathering of its kind in Latvian history.

During the recently closed Jubilee Year, Bishop Justs published a small book on the history of the Jelgava Cathedral. The Cathedral was bombed during World War II in 1944. It wasn’t fully restored until 1990.

"We’re always dealing with hardships over here," the bishop said. "The churches aren’t heated so you can’t stay in them very long."

The "working time" for the Church is a three-month window during the summer. Parish visitations, sacramental celebrations, anniversaries and new construction all have to take place from June-August.

Bishop Justs’ episcopal motto is "That They May Have Life." His goal is to bring his people to the spiritual life, God and Jesus Christ. Bishop Loverde’s motto — "Encourage and Teach with Patience" — also applies to Latvia, Bishop Justs said.

Latvian Catholics kept the faith alive during the Communist regime, he added. Prayer life and confession are still very strong in the country.

"A priest has to know the hearts of his people, the intimate soul of believers," he said. "Confession gives that one-on-one contact."

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