Blessed Teofilius Matulionis
Lithuanian bishop who endured years of Soviet imprisonment and died in 1962, reportedly poisoned
- Rank
- Blessed
- Kind
- Bishop, Martyr
- Life
- 1873 – 1962
- Era
- 20th century
- Countries
- Lithuania, Russia
Life story
Teofilius Matulionis was born on 22 June 1873 in a village near Alanta, now in Lithuania. He studied at the seminary in St Petersburg and was ordained a priest in 1900. From 1910 he was pastor of the parish of the Immaculate Heart of Jesus in St Petersburg.
In 1923 he was sentenced with other priests to three years in prison and was released in 1925. At the end of 1928 Pius XI named him auxiliary bishop of Mogilev, and in February 1929 he was consecrated bishop in secret. Soon afterwards he was exiled to the Solovki camp. In 1933 he returned to Lithuania in a prisoner exchange between Lithuania and the USSR.
In 1943 he became bishop of Kaišiadorys. In 1946 he was arrested and sentenced to ten years, held at Orsha, Vladimir and a hospital in Mordovia. After his release around 1956 he was not allowed to run the diocese. At Christmas 1957 he consecrated Vincentas Sladkevičius as bishop against the authorities' wishes, and he was forced to move to Šeduva.
He died in Šeduva on 20 August 1962. He is widely believed to have been poisoned by Soviet security officers, reportedly by an injection. Pope Francis recognised that he died for the faith, and he was beatified on 25 June 2017 in Vilnius.
Works and witness
- Ordained in 1900 and pastor in St Petersburg from 1910
- Secretly consecrated bishop in February 1929
- Exiled to Solovki soon afterwards, returned to Lithuania in 1933
- Bishop of Kaišiadorys from 1943; arrested in 1946
- Beatified on 25 June 2017 in Vilnius
Saints from the same country
References
- Teofilius Matulionis biography site (teofilius.lt/home/biography)
- Wikipedia, Teofilius Matulionis (consecration, Solovki, Kaišiadorys, beatification 25 June 2017)
- Vatican Radio archive, Pope Francis salutes Lithuania's first Soviet-era martyr (25 June 2017); Catholic Register, Lithuanian archbishop murdered by Soviet police beatified in Vilnius
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.