Lithuania was Christianized comparatively late. Although first contacts with Christian missionaries are recorded in the beginning of the 11th century, the systematic campaign of baptism of Lithuanian nation began in 1387.

The military and political growth of Lithuanian state, did not coincide with the development of the structures of the Catholic Church. The Reformation movement challenged the Catholic identity of Lithuanian people, the nobles in the first place.

Catholic Counter-Reformation proved to be fruitful, especially in the areas of education and culture. The 17th and 18th centuries were marked by foreign invasions and natural disasters. In difficult circumstances the Catholic faith grew stronger. The number of priests increased, and new churches and monasteries were built. Since the 19th century the major part of Lithuania was incorporated into Czarist Russia. The Catholic Church struggled against russification and the attempts of forced conversions into Orthodoxy. The Czarist oppression was intensified after the national uprisings of 1831 and 1863. Catholicism helped to preserve the national identity of Lithuanian people.

The establishment of independent Lithuanian state in 1918 opened a new page also in the history of the Church. The ecclesiastical province of Lithuania was created in 1926. However the free development of the Church structures was interrupted by the World War II and the Soviet occupation.

The Soviet period was marked by brutal as well as sophisticated persecution of Christians and Catholics.

In 1990 Lithuania declared the re-establishment of independence. The decade of independence was rich with the signs of revival of the Church structures. At the same time it was the occasion of re-evaluation of the role of the Church in the post-communist society.

Literature:

Encyclopedia Lituanica, Volume IV. Boston, Massachusetts, 1975.
Zenonas Ivinskis. Rinktiniai raštai, IV. Krikščionybė Lietuvoje. Roma, 1987.
Zenonas Ivinskis. Selected Writings. Christianity in Lithuania. Roma, 1987.
Michael Bourdeaux, Land of Crosses. Devon, 1979.
V. Stanley Vardys. The Catholic Church, Dissent and Nationality in Soviet Lithuania. New York, 1978.
Vytautas S. Vardys. Krikščionybė Lietuvoje. Chicago, 1997.