LITHUANIA MOVEMENT AFFILIATED TO PAX ROMANA ICMICA

LCAS – LKMA Lietuviu Kataliku Mokslo Akademija

The members

All members are university researchers (with PhDs). They are mainly academics and some politicians.

The number varies between 78 and 98 members.

Structure

They have 07 executive members: 01 President, 02 Secretaries, and 04 members. They renew the leadership every 05 years.

Finance

They support their activities with contributions from members and some funds from the government.

Activities

  • They are involved in building the capacities of adults and young Christians. Once a week, members give a course on theology, the social doctrine of the Church, and spirituality.
  • They organize a large (national) gathering of young people in Lithuania every year.
  • They participate mainly in research activities and also participate in the annual collection of articles representing their research. They take an active part in public debates on subjects such as migration
    such as migration, synodality, war, LGBT rights, encyclicals, etc.
  • They also support academic excellence by awarding prizes for the best masters’ research papers. They give €1,000 to a student who presents a good piece of research with a Christian dimension. On this, students submit their work and a steering committee evaluates them according to the selection criteria shared publicly.
  • They are also involved in the activities of their respective parishes.

Prospects

In response to the question of how to ensure succession and include young professionals and those who do not have a doctorate in the group, setting up a subsidiary might be a good idea. However, at the moment,  the association does not have any intention to review its statutes yet.

Strengths and Benefits

They have a good relationship with the government. They obtain funding, in particular for the annual collection of articles and the proceedings of the academy.

The association is legally registered and recognized by the State.

In Lithuania, young people receive enough training from the academic curriculum. They do not need additional training to improve their professional skills. The association only organizes training aimed at strengthening youth’s spirituality.

Limitations

The members are all very committed and busy academics. They can no longer stretch beyond the activities above mentioned.

In the country, the State and the Church are separate. Church affiliation has little influence on the State. There is no massive influence.