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The Šilutė district municipality intends to allocate 100 thousand. for the care of religious communities and their places of worship. By comparison, that’s half what it was in 2019.
There are an estimated 9 historic Lutheran Evangelical and 7 Catholic churches in the municipality. In total, there are an estimated 17 Catholic churches, 10 Evangelical Lutheran churches, and 4 other traditional religious communities. However, evangelicals point out that some churches are used by both Catholics and Lutherans.
Evangelicals: “Moral injustice”
According to the planned project, 80 thousand. 20 thousand euros for the Catholic community. for Evangelical Lutherans.
However, the members of this community are convinced that a community with a rich heritage cannot maintain its own buildings on its own. There is a desire for more support for cultural heritage buildings.
The parish priest of Kintai and Safe, Mindaugas Žilinskis, declared that this was a moral injustice. According to him, Evangelical Lutheran churches, which are also open to secular events, are part of the culture of Lithuania Minor.
“In my opinion, heritage should also be appreciated by cultural heritage specialists. They could assess which parish needs more now. However, it should be noted that in the initial stage, it was intended to allocate only 9 thousand evangelicals in total. Euros”, explained M. Žilinskis.
Aurelija Kripaitė / 15min.lt photo / Kintai City Catholic Church
According to him, Evangelical Lutheran churches, especially in sparsely populated communities, are also open to Catholics. According to evangelical customs, the dead can be shielded in churches. Therefore, when a resident died, the Evangelical Lutherans were fed.
Today, according to M. Žilinskis, the Rusnė church needs the most support. The church on the largest island in Lithuania is definitely in need of repairs.
Skaičiavo tikinčiuosius
It is based on census data from 2011, when there were 81 percent in Šilutė district. Catholics, 4.45 percent. Lutheran.
This is exactly the type of statistics that were used when the funds were allocated.
The Šilutė District Mayor Vytautas Laurinaitis stated that for several years there was a special commission of various communities and municipal employees.
“However, a situation arose in which nobody wanted to be on that commission anymore, because that gave rise to disputes. For this reason, this year we have taken into account the proposal of the Catholic community to distribute the money according to the number of members of that community. Because they are taxpayers and the objective is that the money they pay goes to their church, “said V. Laurinaitis.
According to him, the Evangelical Lutheran parish has already been allocated a larger amount than could be deducted from the proportion of believers.
Representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church point out that the census data is out of date and, in reality, their communities have only grown. In addition, it is recalled that the commission, which met in spring, foresaw that, given the increase in funding for Catholics in 2020, priority should be given in 2021 to applications from Evangelical Lutheran parishes. However, this resolution was only on paper.
The mayor pointed out that the municipality in turn contributes to the churches. It is planned to allocate 15 thousand LTL to the Rusnė Church in a separate project. euros.
Catholics: “Money for the people”
Dean of Šilutė, Pastor Remigijus Saunorius said that the money should go to the people, not to the churches or their roofs. The support, he said, must reach more abundant parishes. “We think differently: people spend the money from the budget. That money must go to the communities where people and children gather,” he said.
Photo of Gintarė Rakickaitė / Švėkšna Church
According to R. Saunorius, the Švėkšna Church, famous throughout the country, needs great support at this time. Couples also come here to get married from the most remote corners of Lithuania. However, the building is in need of repair.
The pastor agreed that tens of thousands of euros were not enough for the necessary repairs.
“But this church is very rich and has a lot of attendance. These are more necessary than those where they meet several times a year, ”said the pastor.
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