Lithuanian Catholics restoring Hill of Crosses damaged by fire

Published: 2007-01-03

OXFORD, England (CNS) -- Lithuanian Catholics have started to restore the country's historic Hill of Crosses after a fire damaged some of the smaller crosses. "People have already begun praying and placing new crosses in the damaged area so it won't look empty and desolate for long," Meilute Pozemeckaite, a local council official, told Catholic News Service Jan. 3 in a telephone interview. Bishop Eugenijus Bartulis of Siauliai said most of the damage was done to small crosses that can be replaced, but some of the large crosses were charred. "Fortunately the most valuable crosses were spared, so the damage is more moral than material," the bishop told CNS Jan. 3 by phone. Lithuanian church sources estimated that at least 200,000 crosses of various sizes were standing on the hill at the time of the Dec. 28 fire. A crucifix donated in September by Pope Benedict XVI was undamaged, they said.

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