M. Reinys – krikščioniškosios pedagogikos universalumo puoselėtojas
M. Reinys – nurturer of the universality of Christian pedagogy

Summary/Abstract: Venerable Archbishop Mečislovas Reinys paid much attention to the nurturing of young people. For that purpose he used the knowledge obtained in the East (the Petrapilis Theological Academy) and in the West (the University of Liuven) which he successfully synthesized and put to practice in Lithuania. M. Reinys was the first Lithuanian to introduce the great eastern thinker V. Solovjov to the West. He also strove to acquaint the Lithuanian intelligentsia with the scientific innovations of West Europe. M. Reinys’ nurturing mission spread and grew gradually incorporating new social groups one after another. They differed by age and by the already acquired level of education and ranged from students of schools and gymnasiums in Vilnius and Kaunas, clerics of the theological seminaries of Vilnius and Vilkaviškis, university students to various public organizations. Three stages of his mature pedagogical experience can be distinguished (a tutor who had finished the Alexander III gymnasium in Riga with a gold medal; work in Vilnius, 1914–1922; teaching work at the University of Lithuania in Kaunas which later was renamed to Vytautas the Great University, 1922–1940). M. Reinys was always ready to address himself to the pressing issues of the day. M. Reinys’ activity which embraced different layers of society in Lithuania spread far beyond the boundaries of the country and revealed him a nurturer of the universality of Christian pedagogy. M. Reinys performed an important nurturing mission for the society of those days by accentuating the individual‘ s spirituality and morals unseparable from it. He called for the expansion of Catholic activity and urged to witness God‘s love by one‘s own example and deeds. He propagated spiritual values in the sacral sphere (sermons and pastoral messages) and in the secular sphere (lectures and articles). M. Reinys’ ideas of Christian pedagogy are still important nowadays.

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