Conflicts over the Language of Additional Service in the Samogitian (Telšiai) Diocese: The Cases of Zarasai and Čekiškės Parishes
Conflicts over the Language of Additional Service in the Samogitian (Telšiai) Diocese: The Cases of Zarasai and Čekiškės Parishes

Summary/Abstract: Conflict situations unfolded mostly in the so-called mixed parishes inhab-ited by parishioners of Lithuanian and Polish. The article discusses differentsituations in two parishes of the Samogitian (Telšiai) Diocese. In one of them,Zarasai parish, it was the Lithuanian parishioners who demanded their rights,while in the other, Čekiškė parish, it was the Polish believers. In Zarasai parish,the Polish believers conflicted mainly about the time scheduled for the sermonsin Lithuanian or Polish. At the bishop’s instruction, the time for the Lithuaniansermon was set before the Holy Mass, because the Lithuanian-speaking parish-ioners lived mainly in the villages outside the town and usually it took themlong to travel to the church. Meanwhile, the Polish sermon was preached afterthe mass, because the Polish-speaking parishioners were townspeople, and thechurch was closer to them. The main tool in the struggle of the Polish parish-ioners was the singing of hymns when the Lithuanian sermon was preached,thus attempting to disrupt it. The Poles were dissatisfied with the parish priestRev. Juozapas Liasauskis for following the bishop’s instruction to the letter andwanted him to be removed from Zarasai parish. Yet the conflict in Zarasai par-ish did not escalate to acrimony or bloodshed in the church.Until 1909, the language of the additional services and sermons in the par-ish of Čekiškė was Lithuanian. However, the Polish-speaking parishioners,mostly the nobles, thought that a sermon in Polish should be preached in theirparish church. The most important criterion for introducing Polish sermons wasstatistical, that is, the number of parishioners who wanted sermons in Polish.A survey of parishioners was carried out, during which they were asked inwhich language the sermons should be delivered. In this survey, 986 peoplesigned up as Polish and over 3000 as Lithuanian. In view of this, BishopGasparas Cirtautas introduced sermons and hymns in Polish on every fourthSunday and on feasts in the parish of Čekiškė.

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