Lithuanian church officials protest pagan fest planned near cathedral

Published: 2004-09-16

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- Lithuanian church leaders have protested plans for a pagan festival next to the Catholic cathedral in Vilnius. "The city authorities see this as a social event which could bring in tourist revenue," Vilnius Auxiliary Bishop Juozas Tunaitis told Catholic News Service Sept. 15. "But to organize pagan rituals in such a place is clearly wrong -- it is a violation of the civic spirit, as well as the good will that should govern church-government ties." Preparations were under way for the late-September song and dance festival in the square adjoining the capital's 14th-century St. Casimir Cathedral. Cardinal Audrys Backis of Vilnius, president of the Lithuanian bishops' conference, told the city's mayor, Arturas Zuokas, Sept. 8 that the festival would be viewed as a "provocation" by religious believers. Zuokas said he believed Catholicism and paganism should not "stand against each other in the 21st century." "Paganism is part of our history, and Vilnius has the right to a many-sided cultural life," Zuokas told Poland's Catholic information agency, KAI, Sept. 10.

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