Lithuania’s Bishop Gintaras Grusas: post Communist faith
Lithuania shares the challenges that secularism poses to the Universal Church but
its Communist history puts a different twist on the problem.
Speaking on the
sidelines of the International Eucharistic Congress this week in Dublin, Ireland,
the General Secretary of the Lithuanian Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Gintaras Grusas
expresses his hope that things are improving in the Lithuanian Church.
“Within
the last twenty years, those who had in difficult times attended mass, continue to
attend. But the reaching out, the evangelization, the catechesis of our youth is
still an important task.”
“I think the Holy Father really hit the nail on the
head with the declaration of the upcoming year of faith. I think understanding what
is faith, getting a deeper understanding of the meaning of the Eucharist and the meaning
of the Church is probably the principle thing that we need to do in order to have
people live it.”
Listen to the full interview as Emer McCarthy asks Bishop
Grusas about religious freedom in Lithuania today and why he speaks with such an American
accent!