Kaunas Cathedral, the mother church of the Archdiocese

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kaunas (Latin: Archidioecesis Kaunensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Lithuania. It is based in Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania. It was established as the Diocese of Samogitia in 1417 with a seat in Medininkai according to directions from the Council of Constance. The diocese was suppressed in 1798 and restored again in 1849. It was reorganized into the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kaunas by Pope Pius XI on April 4, 1926, with the suffragan sees of Šiauliai, Vilkaviškis, and Telšiai.

The archdiocese's motherchurch and thus seat of its archbishop is Kaunas Cathedral Basilica; it also houses a minor Basilica in Šiluva. The current Archbishop of Kaunas is His Excellency Sigitas Tamkevičius, SJ, having been appointed by Pope John Paul II on May 4, 1996.

[edit] List of bishops of Samogitia

See List of bishops of Samogitia.

[edit] List of bishops and archbishops of Kaunas

• Archbishop Juozapas Skvireckas (1926–1959)
• Cardinal Vincentas Sladkevičius, MIC (1989–1996)
• Archbishop Sigitas Tamkevičius, SJ (1996–present)

[edit] References

• Official site
• Catholic Hierarchy

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