“A slumbering giant within the Church”: with this image the chairman of the Council for the apostolate of the laity, Msgr. Jonas Kauneckas, presented the current situation of the laity in Lithuania, where “before the Second World War 80% of the faithful formed part of various Catholic organizations, in comparison with the 1% today”. During the Council’s meeting held at Kaunas in recent days, Kauneckas expressed the hope that the Council “may play the role of an informal work group for the formulation of projects” to be submitted to the bishops themselves. Education and promotion of the life of Christian communities: these are the priorities he indicated. Meanwhile, again in Lithuania, the archbishop of Lithuania, Cardinal Audrys J. Backis, has announced “the jubilee year of the patron of Lithuania St. Casimir” (1458-1484) on the occasion of the liturgical celebration of the young saint (4 March), son of the king of Poland and Lithuania who died at the age of 26. A representative of the Holy See is expected for the most significant ceremony in the jubilee, planned for 9 May. The jubilee year that will end on 21 November, feast of Christ the King, was proclaimed on the occasion of the fourth centenary of the solemn arrival in Vilnius of the brief with which Pope Leo X certified the cult of St. Casimir in 1521. The only saint of Lithuanian nationality, Casimir was declared patron of the country by Urban VIII, and “special patron of the youth of Lithuania” by Pius XII in 1948. Recalling the prince’s life style, “characterised by evangelical poverty as protection against the temptations of riches and honours”, Cardinal Backis pointed out that “the opening up of the European Union to the countries of Eastern Europe could suggest new life styles that alienate people from Christ. They challenge us to live our faith with ever greater conscientiousness”.
