5 January 2011, press release
The Speaker of the Seimas Irena Degutienė received Archbishop Luigi Bonazzi, the Apostolic Nuncio to Lithuania.
The Head of the Parliament congratulated the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps of the Ambassadors of foreign countries residing in Lithuania on the New Year and asked him to convey greetings to all the Ambassadors.
A great deal of attention during the meeting was devoted to consolidation of basic Christian values in the public life of Lithuania. Significance of 13 January 1991 events for the history of our country and Europe, unity of Lithuanian people, their confidence in the emerging state and their determination to overcome all the difficulties and withstand the most brutal aggression were the topics discussed at the meeting.
Mrs Degutienė recalled the great significance of each word of support and sympathy from abroad that reached Lithuania savaged by the occupant army back in 1991.
“In terms of their geopolitical importance the January events compare to the fall of the Berlin Wall since it was after these events that the wave of freedom moved further to the East. These days we recall all the foreign countries, their prominent citizens who supported the Lithuanian nation during the moments of its ordeal”, - Mrs Degutienė stated.
The Head of the Parliament underscored that at that time the words of Pope John Paul II sounded like a new whiff of freedom and hope inspiring the nation to withstand the evil, peacefully resist the Soviet tanks and continue its fight for the freedom of its own and of other nations.
“Full of hope, Lithuanian people then listened to the words of the late Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square about our country and each resident, the words written down in the telegram that was handed over through Cardinal Vincentas Sladkevičius, the intellectual of Lithuania and the Churc”, - Mrs Degutienė said. “These words inspired confidence and gave the people strength to continue their struggle and resist the rage of darkness”.
In his telegram to the Lithuanian nation sent in January 1991 Pope John Paul II expressed his solidarity with the Lithuanian nation, belief in mutual respect and resolution of the problems. He gave his blessing to the self-sacrificing people of Lithuania.
The Speaker of the Parliament underlined that the Lithuanian people still needed words and actions based on wisdom and basic values that would give them confidence and trust in one another and in the entire state.
Secretariat of the Speaker of the Seimas
Spokesperson Juozas Ruzgys, tel: +370 5 2396023, +370 698 42073
